


Unnamed project

by W01FS0NG



Series: Unnamed Star Wars Project [1]
Category: Maximum Ride - James Patterson, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Gen, Length of chapters may vary, Mention of Erasers, Mentions of Maximum Ride, Mentions of the School, Singing, Storytelling, Updates may vary, Which isn’t very long, mentions of iggy, trying not to go along with the actual story arc of Clone Wars for as much as I can
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-09-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 64,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23084485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/W01FS0NG/pseuds/W01FS0NG
Summary: Wings. If you were Mara, they were a curse. They were the product of all the suffering caused by those researchers. They gave her white wings speckled with black dots. It only gave her the nickname The Gyrfalcon by her researchers. That was the bird they combined her DNA with. What will happen when she gets thrust into a completely different universe?
Series: Unnamed Star Wars Project [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777744
Kudos: 23





	1. Pilot

Wings. If you were Mara, they were a curse. They were the product of all the suffering caused by those researchers. They gave her white wings speckled with black dots. It only gave her the nickname The Gyrfalcon by her researchers. That was the bird they combined her DNA with. They never once called her by her real name. Well actually, Mara isn’t even her real name. She doesn’t know what her parents named her. All she knows is that she calls herself Mara. It was a pretty name, so why not?

It was a bird from the Arctic tundra, northern coniferous forests, and arctic-alpine regions of North America. She recently escaped a compound of The School in Alaska, after being free for a few years, after her initial escape. 

If you were Mara, wings were also a blessing. She found that flying was like an escape to her at times. She felt free. Until she actually escaped, and actually was free. 

Now, as she flew away from the Erasers, the researcher’s goons, (wolf-like men), a portal opened up.

In hindsight flying directly into a mysterious portal while running away from the researcher’s goons, probably wasn’t the best idea. Why? A.) because one of her wings was hurt and B.) When she exited the portal, it dropped her off in the sky.

That’s just about what she’s doing now. Accepting her probable fate of dying. She’ll hit the ground at some point, right? Maybe even get hit by a car. 

Even then she wouldn’t die. This might be one of the few times that she will be glad to have this ability. Yet, she would accept death like an old friend if only she would actually die.

Hang on, are her wings out? They have to be, right? That’s how they were before she exited the portal. She can still save herself, but she risks herself being seen. She can’t fly away, her wing is broken.

When she encounters those Erasers again, she’ll let them have it. They were the reason her wing is in such a shape, and why she’s falling out of the sky.

 _Wait, was… was that a floating vehicle?_ She thinks as she sees a giant thing of metal zoom above her. Quickly, she flips herself around so that she isn’t falling head first.

Deciding to catch one, er really just hop on top of one, she tucks her wings back into the slits she cut out of her giant sweatshirt she got from a Refugio while on the run.

Now she’s falling without any weird drag. Thankfully, she actually lands on one. However, depending on the metal and how this thing is built on the inside, she may or may not have made whoever was inside aware of her.

 _Wait a minute. Do I still have my iPod?_ Frantically, she searched through her pant pockets, they weren’t there. Next, her one sweatshirt pocket. Thankfully, it, along with its earbuds were still in that pocket. She exhaled in relief. 

Iggy tricked it out for her so that it wouldn’t need to be plugged in for charging. He made the device solar powered. She really liked that boy. Despite him being blind he could do all these different things. He was even able to make a bomb. The dude even taught Gazzy how to do it.

With that settled, she took a moment to look around at the world surrounding her. She figured she was in the future, or some weird alternate dimension. All she knows is the earth she remembers didn’t have flying cars, and she's been all around the world. None of the cities she’s seen are remotely close to this one.

Whatever the thing she stood upon was, it was getting lower to the ground. Not wanting to risk herself being spotted more than she probably already has, she layed down.

When it finally reached what looked like an outdoor/small train station, it stopped to let people on and off. 

Carefully, and as quietly as she could, she rolled off the top and landed on the ground feet first. Now that she was on the ground, she can become invisible. As if she never existed. Now, all she has to do is figure out where the hell she is.

Then, someone shouted words she didn’t understand in her direction. She didn’t think that they were talking to her, so she kept going. Yet, the words continued, until finally, someone came up behind her and touched her on her shoulder.

Mara turned her head to see a teenager about her age with near-red skin. Her face had white markings. Strange triangular horn like things lined the top of her head with white and blue striped almost hair looking things on top, connected to two horns on either side of her head. She wore a red tank top with a red skirt and high boots. There were two strange metallic sticks at either side of her waist.

She again spoke words Mara could not understand. The girl tried to decipher the language, but couldn’t find a root to base it with so that she could slightly understand the words. Of course, Mara only knows to do this because she speaks at least twenty languages. Whatever this strange girl in front of her is speaking isn’t one of them.

Finally, Mara gave up, saying in English, “I’m sorry, I cannot understand you,” she said as she jerked her shoulder away from the girl’s hands. With ease, she blended into the crowd.

When she thought she was far enough away, the human girl slowed down her pace. Mara tried not to stare at the alien faces that passed her by in the street. She noticed that no one wore t-shirts. 

In the street market, a few blocks down, she stole a backpack, and a new cloak. Storing her sweatshirt in the pack. The girl also stole some other garments such as: pants; boots; and shirts. 

Those clothes should last her a week (if she wants to wash them at the end of those seven days. The longest she’s been in the same clothes without washing them are herself was a full month).

It is said that in pursuit of prey gyrfalcons are faster than peregrines significantly. In level flight, the gyrfalcon can reach ninety miles per hour, and in stoop, it can reach 150 miles per hour. The researchers in The School once tested her against their peregrine child, but ultimately, Mara was faster than him. 

Yet, none of those speed works they drilled her through can work here. There are too many people, too many obstacles, and doing so will only attract unwanted attention. Even if her wing is almost fully healed, she wouldn’t be flying correctly, and may put that left wing through more stress and pain if she exercises it in its current state.

She just has to rely on her feet.

—————

Four days have passed since she came to this planet. The girl doubts that this is a future version of Earth, but she feels as if she still needs to keep that theory in the running. She has also thought of the Not alone in the Universe theory, and the Multiverse theory, which seem a lot more likely than her future Earth theory.

Mara’s had to live on the street for the past three days. She got by by stealing fruit and other foods from food stands, and pickpocketing other people for money so that she could at least have an appetizer at a restaurant. The girl’s used to it though. It’s almost no different than back on her earth. Only, on Earth, she lived like this because she was on the run, hiding from people, and didn’t yet have access or the money for a safe house. Here, however, everyone speaks a different language than her. Anytime anyone asked her something, she just acted like a mute. 

No way would she want to go home, she just had to figure out the best way for her to get help.

—————

It’s now her fourth day living on the streets of this strange world. Her wing has been fully healed.

Just as she was stealing a few foods from the stands, and putting them in her back, she was spotted. How does she know? The girl looked directly at one of those armored men as he pointed at her.

Quickly, she put her bag on and ran. Once she looked back, she found that they were indeed following her. The men seemingly yelled at her to stop. Mara still couldn’t decipher the language. They have guns. If she tries to fly, they could shoot her down. The girl’s better off evading them through the crowd.

She weaved her way through the streets and thought she was doing well, as she hasn’t been cut off or captured yet. As soon as she neared the corner, she realized that she thought too soon. The same red-skinned girl with white markings on her face stood in her way. Mara turned around to find troopers blocking her exit. She was trapped.

Mara still had wings, so she let them out and flew upwards. Upon doing so, however, the troopers fired lasers at her. Lasers! Can she even stop a laser with her telekinesis? She can stop bullets, so maybe she can stop laser? If not, maybe try and deflect?

The girl put her hand out in order to deflect the lasers with telekinesis and direct them towards the red-skinned girl who had gotten herself onto the roof of a building. Surprisingly, the strange being pulled out the weird metallic tube Mara saw on her hip the first time she encountered her. The stick ignited with green light and the life form deflected the laser beam back at her. Mara took evasive actions.

Pretty soon, the troopers started firing at her again. There were too many to try and concentrate her will on one simple laser, so she kept evading as she flew away from them. Until finally, she had enough and took their guns away via telekinesis. Upon closer inspection of the weapons, she found them to be a strange modified version of rifles.

Now realizing that she’s just been flying in place for more seconds than she should have, she resumed flying away. The red-skinned girl hot on her heels via rooftops. No doubt she’s attracting attention.

A few times, Mara fired the rifles at the teen, and a few times the girl was able to deflect them with her strange weapon. The last laser she fired from those guns ended up rebounding off of that strange light weapon and hit her in her freshly healed wing. With a scream, she fell from the sky.

She hit the ground, noticing that she was now stuck between a dead end and the teen with the strange weapon. Now backed into the corner, she released the only thing that she could do. As long as her vocal cords still work, she can still release a sonic wave. That was the last ability the School researchers installed in her. They seem to be working, as the girl dropped to the ground covering her ears.

Mara didn’t notice the person behind her knocking her out with something from behind. 

\----------

Mara opened her eyes to find herself in a white room. She shot up, and realized she was in some sort of medbay. She looked to the side and found the teenager sitting in a chair, watching her. Again, the lifeform spoke words she did not recognize.

“I still can’t understand you,” Mara informed the girl. Her words seemed to silence her, as she didn’t recognize her words.

Two men approached wearing similar garb. Not similar to the teenager, similar to each other. They were both human too. Their skin tones both peach. One in dark clothing, the other in light clothing. The one with black clothing had dark brown, slightly messy hair, while the other, had auburn, almost ginger hair and a beard. Mara found the same kind of metallic stick on the teen’s hips, on both of the adults’ hips. Those things definitely are a weapon, as she saw the teen use hers, but how do they work?

The one in light clothes spoke first. His accent sounded way different to the teenager’s. Mara sighed, saying, “I’m sorry. But like I told her, I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The three strangers looked and then spoke between themselves. The girl then urged her to follow. Skeptical, she followed the three of them. 

Again they spoke between themselves as the four of them walked. Mara couldn’t help but feel anxious. She’s on gods know where, with no means of communication, and not money. Even if she tried to write something down, it wouldn’t work. Their writing looks like symbols to her. She’s seen them on top of shops.

 _“I have to assume they either saw me fall, or they were on the transport, or whatever it’s called,”_ Mara thought as they walked. _“But where did I land? It’s definitely not Earth, or at least not the Earth that I know. I could be way into the future. Or I could be far away in another galaxy. Or, I could even be in an alternate dimension. Whatever the case, I could be here for a while.”_

The building they were in was much larger than she originally anticipated. In some spots, there were large pillars that held together tall ceilings. Inscriptions and art lined some of the walls. Mara found many different kinds of lifeforms walking about, doing different tasks. The three strangers lead her to a droid. They spent at least an hour in there trying to build a device that Mara had no idea was the purpose of. Yet, they seemed like they wanted her to talk a lot, so she did. After a while, they then gave it to her and gestured for her to put it on like a necklace. It had a wireless earpiece to go along with it. The device almost looked like a hearing aid. She chose to put it in her right ear.

“Can you understand us now?” The man in dark clothing asked. Mara’s eyes widened. Her lips curled up.

“Yes, yes I can,” she said. It felt like she was speaking English, but there was something else to it. Something she can’t quite explain. Perhaps, the earpiece is to translate their words into her language, and the strange neckpiece is for her words to be translated into their language.

“Good, good,” said the ginger male. “Now that you do, can you tell us why and how you got on top of that transport?” He sounded like he was from England.

The girl smiled sheepishly. “So you did notice,” Mara muttered, rubbing the back of her neck and studying the ground. “Before I answer, can I ask you something?” She received no verbal reply, so she decided to continue. “What planet is this?”

The three strangers glanced at each other before the ginger one said, “Coruscant.” 

Mara hummed, bringing her hand to her chin in thought. The girl wandered away from them for a few seconds, thinking out loud, “Okay, so definitely, future Earth is out, that still leaves inter dimensional travel and me just being sent way across the universe… great.” Realizing that they were watching her, she went back to them.

“Did you just say inter dimensional travel?” The red skinned teen questioned.

Mara’s brows furrowed. “Do you know what that is?” 

“It’s only a theory really, speculation,” the ginger man told her.

Mara nodded. “It’s only a theory on my planet too.”

“Why would you even be considering these possibilities in the first place?” The other man asked.

“Because I came here by wormhole and I have no idea where I am,” the girl admitted then added on, “I literally fell from the sky.”

Their eyes widened as they stared at her. “How did you survive the fall?” The teen asked.

Mara opened her mouth to answer, but then thought if exposing herself would be the best idea. As of now, they are the only ones who can help her. The girl turned around. “Did you notice the slits on the back of my… um, garment?” She asked, thinking that they probably don’t know what a sweatshirt is. She also has slits cut out in the same spots on her shirt, but they don’t need to know that.

“Yes,” replies the ginger male. “Why?”

“You might want to stand back,” Mara warned. Without a word, the three of them backed up before unfolding her wings and pushing them through the slits in her sweatshirt. The human teenager stood there for a few seconds to let the fact that she has wings sink in.

“One of your wings seem to be hit by a blaster bolt,” the ginger noticed.

“Hence how she was able to corner me,” Mara stated as she turned around, carefully refolding her wings back onto her back. “But don’t worry, I heal quickly.”

“Where is it that you’re from then, if you aren’t from any of the star systems in this galaxy?” questioned the man in dark clothing.

“I am from a planet called Earth. As far as we know, we are the only life forms in our system, and in our galaxy.”

“That’s a whole lot of nothing,” the dark clothed man stated. “All alone in the universe.”

“Yes, well,” Mara continued. “My people can barely put people on the next planet in the system farther away from our sun, much less make the air on those planets breathable.”

“So they are limited in their space capabilities,” the ginger male concluded.

“Yes,” Mara confirmed. “But, you should know, I only have these wings because I was experimented on as a child. Only some unlucky few suffer the same fate as me. The general public doesn’t even know we’re still alive, much less existed in the first place.”

“I see,” stated the dark clothed man.

“You know, you never told us your name,” the red skinned teen noticed, implying that she should.

“You first.”

“Ahsoka Tano.”

“Mara Gyr.” The human girl really couldn’t think of any last name other than to just create one on the spot. Hell, she hasn’t even read the file of the mother she was ripped away from.

“Awake she is, I see,” stated a little green man with a can. He wore tan and brown robes. Mara tried not to stare. “Come with me, she must.”

“Why?” Mara asked, turning back towards Ahsoka.

“Soon, you will see,” the green man answered.

She was brought before a group of people sitting in chairs.

“What is this?” she questioned.

“Someone, I believe you already met her, said that you were force sensitive,” a black man stated, sitting in one of those chairs. He sat one chair away from where the little green man is being seated on their left side. “I will conduct a test, to see if her feelings were correct.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Mara asked the confused.

“Know what the force is, you do not,” the green man noticed.

“Twice now, you have said a word, that on my planet means coercion or compulsion, especially with the use or threat of violence,” Mara answered his enquiry. “And yet, that word seems to carry a lot of weight here.”

“Indeed it does, young one,” the green man stated. “See things differently you do, tell us,” he urged gently.

“The way I see it, is that you people have three separate abilities. Telekinesis or the ability to control objects with your mind, which I have, telepathy, the ability to read another’s mind, which I do not have, and empathy, the ability to feel others' feelings, which I also do not have.”

“The Padawan also reported you having another ability,” a man with an extended head stated. He sat two chairs away from the green guy on their right side. “What might I ask would that be?”

“Sonic wave manipulation,” Mara answered. “It’s something I would rather demonstrate than talk about.”

“Then by all means,” the black allowed.

“Apologies in advance for your window,” stated Mara as she steadied herself and took in a deep breath. She opened her mouth and released her sonic cry. The glass shattered within seconds.

The green guy hummed. “Grave past. Suffered greatly, you have. Remain strong you do. Become a Jedi, you will not… but the Jedi Temple, you are welcome to stay.”

“I see,” Mara stated before bowing. “Thank you for your time,” the girl said as she bowed and exited.

When Mara exited, she found Ahsoka standing outside the door. “I’m guessing you were listening in?” Mara questioned.

The red-skinned girl smiled slightly before saying, “Yeah…”

Before anything else could be said, the black man emerged from the room. “Ah, Padawan Ahsoka Tano. Would you please show our new guest to her room?” 

“And where will she be staying, Master Windu?” Tano questioned.

“Have her stay in the visitor’s section,” the master told the Padawan.

Just as Ahsoka was about to lead the teen to one of those rooms, Mara stopped her. “I’ve been meaning to ask, where are my belongings?”

“Right this way,” stated the red-skinned teen as she turned the other way down the hall. 

A few minutes later, they were able to retrieve her bag, which had all her clothes, and her iPod. The food she stashed in there was confiscated though. Oh well. At least she still has her iPod and favorite sweatshirt.

When they finally got to her new room, she set her stuff down and said goodbye to Padawan Ahsoka Tano. 

Wherever she is, whether it’s across the universe or in an alternate dimension all together, she might actually like it here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I hope you like it.
> 
> In all honesty, I’m not sure if I’m going to continue this. If this goes well, then I might add another few chapters. Or, if y’all want more, just comment.


	2. Adjusting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyyyyy. I finally decided to put another chapter out yay!

Mara woke up, and surprised, she found that she didn’t have any nightmares last night at all. That’s always a plus. 

She was given one of the guest rooms and apparently, they were originally intended as rooms where senators can stay or something like that. They’re big rooms. In the one she’s staying, the bed has a canopy frame and curtains. There’s a large wardrobe and she has her own bathroom. Away from the bed and towards the window, are two seats with a coffee table in the middle of them.

When getting ready for the day, she contemplated on wearing her sweatshirt, or just the t-shirt she wore under it when she came here that reads; “Fe Male = Iron Man. Therefore, I am Ironman.” The girl decided to do that with her comfortable athletic pants. Mara also chose to keep her wings folded against her back. 

Today, Mara thought she’d go to the library to read up on, well, everything. She still has to learn about their alphabet among many other spoken languages. Let’s not forget different cultures and planets. Their systems, what kind of people inhabit those worlds and systems. Everything.

—————

It looks like just a bunch of lines to her if she’s being honest. Yet, it holds vague similarities to Asian characters. However, most of the letters seem to be made up of two lines. 

She’ll need someone to help her with telling her which letter is which. 

After she had copied all the characters down, she noticed that the librarian was around. “Excuse me, Miss?” She caught the old woman’s attention. The lady stepped closer to her. “Can you read these letters out loud to me? Just so that I can write the translation down for me?”

“Of course dear,” the woman stated. Mara readied what resembled a pencil in this universe and wrote down the syllables she spoke.

The teen followed along as best she could. She did not realize that some of these characters have two letters in translation. Yet, she liked that. That way, it held similarities to the old Spanish alphabet.

“Thank you, Miss,” Mara said as she looked over her notes. 

Now that she has that all over and done with, she can use the key she just created to read the archives of the Jedi Temple.

__________

Mara has now been in the library for hours. There are so many different star systems in this galaxy on this database. It amazes her how life forms are able to make homes for themselves even in harsh planets such as Tatooine and Jakku (two desert planets), Hoth (an ice planet), Bespin (a gas planet), and Kamino (an ocean planet). 

The human then found that Ahsoka’s race are Torgutas. A race of hunters and carnivores. Their skin tones very and they have a variety of white markings on their faces and sometimes bodies. There are small horns that line their head in front of their three head tails. On top of their head are two large horns. 

It’s strange for Mara to see single ecosystems and biospheres on one planet. Due to her being of Earth, she’s used to a planet having many different ecosystems and many different biospheres.

Along with the many different planets come many different languages. On Earth, there are 6,500 languages. Here, however, there are over six million. Mara speaks twenty of the Earth languages. Can she fit in a few more? 

What language should she even start learning first? Maybe droid? Yes, let’s do that. But wait, she still needs to learn the alphabet of this universe’s basic language.

Although, hang on, would she even need to learn droid? She has a translator device so would that work for all languages? Probably. Mara still wants to learn this just in case.

—————

It’s been a few more hours and Mara thinks that she has it down.

Wanting something else to do, she went back to the planets to read more about them. The girl skimmed over a lot of it.

The first one she chose to research was Coruscant. If she’s going to be living on it, she might as well research it first.

According to the database, it is a city covered planet. Home to one trillion citizens. All of whole hail from either humanoid or alien species. This planet is also believed to be the home world humanity, human kind.

This planet is also holds a position at the end of most trade routes, which enabled the planet to become more powerful and more of an influence to the rest of the system. The trade route was also cause for the city-planet to surpass its rivals and become a galactic cultural hub. It serves as the galaxy’s capital.

This planet is also home to the best in education, finance, and fine art. The planet also houses the galactic senate building, where the chancellor’s office resides, as well as where the senate holds most of their meetings and debates. 

The planet is also home to the Jedi Temple, the place where most, if not all of the force sensitive younglings come to train to become Jedi. 

During the days of the Old Republic, Coruscant was a home to many historical events. One of which was the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith. The planet fell under Sith occupation for a time. Then, the Republic forces, with the aid of the Jedi, liberated the city-planet. A new Republic was formed called the Galactic Republic. Jedis have been acting as peacekeepers to the planet and the rest of the galaxy for almost a millennium.

The next planet she chose to research was Kamino. An aquatic planet. Home to a race of tall, elegant beings who tend to keep to themselves. They hold a place in the senate because of their production of clone troopers.

“Clone troopers?” Mara questioned. “So that’s why they all sounded the same,” she said quietly. The very idea seemed very strange to her, but it also made a lot of sense. Regular citizens wouldn’t have to be drafted in the war. They all have the same face, the same voice. They have their own minds, right? Their own personalities? How do they feel about being in this war? Mayhaps they feel alright about it because they are actually specifically bred for this purpose.

“I thought I might find you here,” came a familiar voice.

Mara turned around to find that it was indeed Ahsoka Tano. “Hey,” the human greeted.

“Do you want some lunch? It’s about that time,” the Togruta told her.

Mara’s brows raised. “Really? Already?” Time flies when you're buried in a computer.

The two girls headed to what looked to be a cafeteria. As the two girls sat down to eat, Barris and a few other Padawans joined them. Mara has to admit, she felt a little out of place. Even though there’s all these different kinds of species here, she feels on the outs. She should, she’s never been here a day in her life. 

When Mara came to be the center of the conversation, all of them except Barris bombarde her with questions. Questions such as, “Is it true that you were tested for force sensitivity?” “How did you get Theoden wings?” “Is it true that you have powers?” “Where did you come from?” “What’s it like over there?”

She tried her best to answer them and keep up with the questions until a tall green man with many head tails and wide black eyes told them that they should halt all the questioning. The kids called him Kit Fisto.

Mara also heard talk of this place called Mandalore and that some of the people there don’t want to stay neutral. Those people want to join the Separatists, the people the Jedi and Republic are at war with. Mara also heard that the Duchess of Mandalore had already pleaded her case to the Galactic Senate as to why her people shouldn’t be aided by the government to drive the terrorists out.

In other Senate news and padawan gossip, Senator Onaconda Farr, a Rhodian form Rhodia was assassinated by a member of his own kind, Representative Purs. 

With Coruscant being the center of the galaxy and the senate, of course there’s going to be all kinds of gossip and rumors rolling around. About the senate and the Jedi Temple. Mara wonders if news of her existence would stir up some more. However, that probably wouldn’t be the best idea. She might be hunted like she was back on Earth. Only, maybe this time, she might have protectors, the Jedi.

__________

Mara was not willing to tell any of the Jedi about the nightmares that plague her sleep. They happen often and were often about what happened to her in The School. Let’s just say, they were not pretty.

The girl doesn’t want to go into detail about it with anyone, especially people who she just met. Yet, they’re taking care of her too. What if she tells them and they throw her out? Although unlikely, it stayed there in the back of her mind. Yet, maybe they already know about it? They did sort of read her mind when she was brought in front of the council.

The teen had hung around Ahsoka all day as she trained with her friends and their Lightsabers. She watched as they sparred. Mara taking not that it looked and moved like a sword. Not to mention that Iggy and Gazzy would have a kick out of them trying to disassemble the great weapons. That’s only if Iggy would be able to not chop peoples’ heads out with his blind eyes. 

Anyway, Mara had gone to bed sort of early. No one really knew why or questioned it.

So, when Ahsoka, Anakin, and Obi-wan were heading in for the night, they were surprised to hear screaming coming from Mara’s room. The trio dashed into the space to find her thrashing as well. Relieved to see that she was only having a nightmare, yet still very much worried about her, the three of them attempted to wake her up. After a few tries, she got up with a start, tears forming in her eyes.

While rubbing her eyes, the girl reached for her translator and earpiece. After she put those on, Ahsoka spoke, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine,” Mara stated. “It’s not the worst one I’ve had.”

“And what’s that?” Kenobi asked.

“Like I would tell you people,” the human said bluntly. Upon seeing their reactions to that she added, “I’ve just met you people. I’m not going to completely put my trust and faith in you. Not yet at least.”

“Well, when you do,” Anakin said as he started to walk out of the room. “We’ll be ready to listen.” That comment made her smile.

The others did the same as they left.

Mara tried. She really did try to go back to sleep. But every time she did, she saw death. It wasn’t hers. It was somebody else’s. The death of a dear friend that she caused. They told her to escape and run, so she did. They died protecting her.

When The School recaptured her, the scientists showed her the wreckage. The bodies that lay there dead. It still haunts her, even after seven years. The pain of knowing that they died because of her still haunts her dreams to this day.

Knowing that she won’t be able to fall asleep for presumably the rest of the night, she got up and left. Wandering the temple. She didn’t have a specific spot to go to nor did she know her way around the building.

The girl found her way to the library and went back to reading. She had transferred the data from her written down key into the gauntlet thing that Ahsoka gave her hours ago. The button to access it is to the left of the communication system.

__________

Mara found herself to be so engrossed with this universe’s tales that she lost track of time again. To her, it had only felt like a couple of minutes. Yet, to the rest of the world, it was hours. The girl did not cease in her readings until out of the corner of her eyes, she found Master Yoda watching her.

“Good evening, Master Yoda,” she greeted, not lifting her head from her book.

“Asleep, you could not, I see,” Yoda spoke, not moving from his position.

“Indeed,” Mara confirmed.

“Nightmare, was it?” The Jedi questioned, taking a few steps closer to the human teenager.

“Yes, yes it was.” Since they were going to continue talking, Mara marked her spot in the book with a bookmark she crafted and set them aside. The Jedi Council member left her to her own devices. After another hour or three the girl returned to her room for, hopefully, some form of sleep.


	3. Flashback

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whaaat??? Two chapters in one day? Nice!

A day after the nightmare, and after lunch, Ahsoka found Mara sitting on the steps. The Togruta called her name, but she didn’t respond. The female padawan walked closer and tried again. Still nothing. This time, she stood in front of the girl.

Her translator earpiece was still latched onto her left ear, but the earpiece itself was out, and a different kind of one was in. It was white, and attached to a white string that led to somewhere hidden in the pockets of Mara’s garment.

Ahsoka waved at her and gestured for the teen to pull the earbuds out. She only took out one, saying, “Hey.” The human placed her translator back into her left ear.

“Hey,” greeted Ahsoka. “What are you doing?”

“Just sitting here, watching the world go by,” Mara stated. Tano sat down next to her on her right side. 

“What’s in your ears?” The Togruta questioned, grabbing at the wire trying to discover its secrets. What she didn’t try to do, but succeeded in doing, however, was pull the earbud out of Mara’s right ear.

“Hey, I was listening to that,” Mara said as she took the small piece of technology back. The human put the tech back in its place. She was listening to _The Lake_ by Typhoon, but she’s lost the will and the vibe to do so. In order to correct that, she paused the song and brought out her solar-powered iPod. The human teen was scrolling through her library trying to find a song when Ahsoka spoke again.

“What’s that?” She questioned.

“It’s an iPod,” explained Mara. “It can hold at least a thousand songs.” She found the one she wanted to listen to. _Six Weeks_ by Of Monsters and Men. The teen then extended her hand with the left earpiece in it. She said, “Put this in your left ear.”

The Togruta did as instructed. Mara hit play on her device and instantly, their ears were filled with music. Ahsoka looked at her with a shocked expression. The winged teen only smiled at her.

The two of them sat in silence while listening to the song. “It’s pretty, but I can’t understand the lyrics,” Tano told her. That’s right. Even though you have a translator doesn’t mean your tech does.

“Then let me translate.” Mara restarted the song and recited the lyrics. She had to sing it in a slightly higher octave though. As she sang, however, she couldn’t help but think of a particular moment in her past.

  
  


_Two years before the wormhole_

_Earth: Washington State, USA_

_Mara and Max has just gotten into an argument. An argument that ended with Mara flying off. Not the very best of outcomes, but she felt like she just had to get out of that house. Just for a little while._

_It was going well, until she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and crashed into an exceedingly tall tree. The girl hit the ground, breaking both of her wings, which protected everything else from being broken._

_She just laid there for what seemed like hours. Until finally, she got up with the help of nearby branches. The girl heard the crack of her wings in several different places._

_Mara has flown far away from the flock. Miles and miles away from the flock. It’s going to take a while for both wings to fully heal. She hasn’t eaten since 11:00 am and the sky is getting darker. Getting back to them is going to take a while. For now, though, she needs to either find or make shelter. Or she can just build a fire. Whatever she’s going to do, she needs to do it quick. They didn’t make her eyes to be able to see in the dark._

_After wandering around aimlessly, the sky was fully black, yet her eyes eased into the darkness. She decided to make camp. Sticks were made into a teepee as she built the foundation for a fire. Once she finally had it, the sticks were slowly devoured by the red light._

_She ignores her hunger as she watches the sky. Stars appeared in groups. The brightest were the first to reach her eyes. A comet flew by as her eyelids became heavy._

_She awoke. The fire was merely smoke now. Once up, Mara rolled her shoulders and moved her wings slightly, feeling if they were okay to fly with. Her right wing was fine, a little bit of a twinge of pain, but that’s nothing she can’t manage. Her left wing on the other hand, that’s a different story. It seared with hurt. Guess that’s what happens when you sleep on one side and forget to tuck your wings in. Oh well, guess she’ll have to stick to the ground then._

_This girl still hasn’t eaten anything. Her stomach was growling something fierce. All of a sudden, she hears an animal cry out. Quickly, she runs towards the sound. Soon enough, she finds what she was looking for. A fox with a great deal of injuries. All of them seemed to be bite marks from another animal. There was nothing she could do for the little guy except mercy it. The fox wouldn’t be able to survive for much longer anyway. Without a word, she raised a stone to end its pain._

_Not even a minute later, she heard growling coming from behind her. Slowly, she turned around. A wolf stood there as if telling her to move away from its prey. She would be able to take it, (probably) but a gut feeling was telling her not to engage. So, slowly, she backed away from the dead fox. As she stepped backwards, the wolf stepped forwards._

_Mara hoped that the direction she was currently heading in was the right one. As soon as the creature was out of view, she turned around and kept going._

_Hours later, she heard someone’s voice. As she walked closer to it, she realized it was Iggy’s. “Iggy!” she called out. After just a few more yells, they found each other._

_Together, they walked back in the direction that Iggy came. The two of them stepped over ferns and fallen branches. “Are you sure this is the right way?” Mara questioned._

_“Did you ask that because I’m blind?” Iggy questioned, not turning his head. She stayed silent. The strawberry blonde smirked. “It’s alright. People underestimate me all the time.”_

_Mara seemed almost hesitant in asking her next question. “Forgive my next question, but I must know. You don’t have a stick or anything, so how do you get around?”_

_“Despite how things may seem, I’m the person with the best navigational skills and coordination in the flock. Besides, my other senses are heightened.”_

_“As are mine,” the girl admitted. “You know, the other day, Angel said to me that you could see whiteness?”_

_“She would be correct,” Iggy stated. “I can see your wings, although they do seem to have dark speckles on them… You aren’t a snowy owl are you?”_

_“No, my bird genes came from a Gyrfalcon.”_

_“Ah, I see... You don’t suppose you can find out my bird genes could you?”_

_“If you would be so kind as to let them out of your shirt.” He did. Mara looked at them closely. “I believe that they are the wings of an albatross. It’s a seabird. The color, shape, and feel of the feathers look to be closely related.”_

_Iggy touched his own wings. “Do they have grey and white wings?”_

_Mara halted for a second. “Can you feel color?”_

_“Yeah.”_

_Her eyes brightened as she smiled. “That’s amazing!”_

_“Thanks.”_

The memory soon faded as the next song on que came to be. _Lakehouse_ by Of Monsters and Men. The human translated the song as well for Ahsoka to understand. The two of them ended up just sitting there listening to different songs all afternoon. Anakin was surprised to find his Padawan there.


	4. Attending a mission

Ahsoka has stated in a meeting with the council that Mara should be able to go on missions with them should she choose to. A meeting Mara was listening in on. Ahsoka also said that it would be good for her to leave this planet every so often. That, Mara could agree on. 

Something must have gone right for the Padawan because Mara was asked to accompany Kenobi on a mission. When Mara agreed to go on this mission with Obi-wan in his command ship, she fully didn’t know what she was getting into. Yet here she is, getting her own room on a giant star ship.

She was briefed on the mission though. Kenobi and his battleship are bringing Skywalker a new ‘fighter jet’ as Mara liked to call them that had stealth capabilities.

They said that it would only take them a few days to reach their destination, which by the way was an abundance of parsecs away. (Mara assumes that parsecs are like miles, though that might just be for space). They are also traveling at light speed, so there’s that. She knows that her people could never achieve such a thing. Not in her lifetime at least.

Mara couldn’t help but marvel at how big the ship was, and how much farther they’ve come versus her own mankind. This ship is like an aircraft carrier, and a battleship. Plus it’s in space, which is more than she can say for her Earth’s battleships and aircraft carriers. Now, she’s leaning towards the alternate reality theory more than different galaxy in the same universe theory.

She also found that she enjoyed the company of the clones. They’re all individuals despite having the same face and voice, which is great. They even have their own choice of hair styles as well, which is awesome.

The girl has also learned not to fly in the hanger. She did that once and after banking too hard and nearly hitting a clone, she stopped. If she did hit him, she would have tackled him right into an aircraft. He would be hurt worse than she would have been.

—————

It was when Kenobi was going over the finalities of their plans and what they were supposed to be doing at their destination, with Anikin and Ahsoka there via holograms, when he sensed something wrong with Mara (who was asleep in her room). The man excused himself and rushed towards her. He felt the darkness, anger, and pain that she did. Those exact feelings amplifying as he got closer.

It wasn’t until he came into her room when his suspicions became correct. The poor girl was having another nightmare. The man ran up to her and tried to wake the girl. As soon as he placed a hand on her shoulder, echoes and visions of what she saw flooded into his head.

_“Stop! Please!”_

_“If you want this to stop, you should have never tried to break out in the first place.”_

_“No, please! It was my idea, not his! Kill me instead!” They shot the boy as planned. “Noooo!!”_

_“Think of this as punishment for your actions.”_

When Mara opened her teary eyes, she saw Obi-wan standing there. “Get out of my head,” she ordered him.

“I’m so sorry,” were the general’s only words. There was a small moment of silence which passed between the two. “Are you alright?” He asked her.

“I’m fine,” Mara replies, getting up from her bed. “No get out, let me change. I’ll be with you guys in a moment.”

The Jedi did as requested.

Moments later, she joined Kenobi on the bridge. She entered as she heard the ginger male speak, “That’s nothing out of the ordinary, especially since I have him the order not to.”

A whoa escaped Mara lips as she looked at the planet. The view made a tunnel vision. She smiled. _“This is so cool,”_ she thought.

“You alright miss?” One of the bridge clones asked her, stepping closer to the girl.

She turned to him, saying, “Oh, I’m fine, I just… I’ve never been in the orbit of another planet before, much less mine.” The two smiled slightly at each other as he went back to his duties. She’s read about this planet on her way over here, Cristophsis. It’s even prettier up close.

“Enjoying the view are we?” Obi-Wan called. Mara smiled as she turned back to look at him. Upon seeing such a smile, he too curled the corner of his lips upwards. But it faded quickly. “Come on, Anikin should be arriving soon. I don’t think he’d like to walk right into something he can’t see.”

“Right,” she muttered following after him. When they went to the docks, Mara put her left hand to the side so that she could feel if the new weapon was there. They stopped right in front of the spacecraft, awaiting Skywalker’s arrival.

Once the Jedi’s ship landed and the man stepped into the hanger, the clones stood at attention. “Welp,” said Anakin as he walked towards the two of them. “Here I am. Now tell me about this new weapon.”

“You’re looking at it,” Obi informed.

Anakin’s face scrunched in confusion. “I’m looking at what?”

Kenobi stepped back once while saying, “Two steps forward and you’d actually be kissing it.” The man then knocked twice on the side of it.

The clone holding the controller for the stealth ship pressed some buttons allowing for the thing to decloak itself.

“It’s a stealth ship,” Kenobi explained.

Anakin hummed. “Some trick,” he said in admiration.

Kenobi turned behind him and walked. The other two followed. “Let’s hope the Separatists think so.”

“I assume scanners won’t be able to detect it,” Skywalker guessed.

“As far as we know,” Mara interjected. “Only, this would be but the first real field test.”

“That’s encouraging,” Skywalker stated sarcastically.

“I figured you’d be up to the challenge,” Kenobi half asked, gesturing to the Jedi standing next to him.

Anakin looked behind him and upwards, studying the spacecraft once more. “So, I can move in undetected, and take them out from behind,” he theorized. “Pretty small ship to take out a whole fleet.” He brought his attention back it Obi-wan, asking, “Are there more?”

“No,” Kenobi told him. “This is the prototype and you won’t be on the offensive. I need you to run a mercy mission down to the planet’s surface.” Anikin halter while Kenobi kept walking. Mara stopped a few steps ahead of Skywalker. “The ship can carry enough supplies for Senator Organa’s headquarters.”

“Oh, I’m still the delivery boy?” Anakin question, as if he was sick and tired of being so. “We don’t need the whole fleet, I can do this myself.”

“Anikin,” said Obi as he turned around to face them and leaned against some crates. “Just do what I tell you. It’s more important to save lives than to destroy ships. I need you to continue the mercy mission.” Anikin crosses his arms and accepted his fate.

One of the clones rushed down towards them, and asked Anakin to halt his departure. When the Jedi asked why, he said it was because his admiral needed to speak with him urgently. Kenobi and Mara left him in the hanger to wait for the man. Skywalker later informed them of an old seperatist General thought to be dead.

She was in the room when Obi-wan received a transmission from senator. He said, “We are under attack from the Seperetist fleet. By air, and by ground. We can’t hold out any longer. There’s little chance for survival. Help us, General Kenobi, you’re our only hope.”

Immediately after that transmission ended, Obi commanded, “Get me Anakin.” A hologram of the Jedi appeared. “Anakin, I’ve just spoken to the senator. They’re in dire need of our help. Continue with the mission to the planet’s surface. I will deal with Trench’s fleet with the ships I already have.”

“General Kenobi, with all due respect,” the admiral spoke. He accompanied Skywalker and some of the clones in the ship. “You do not have the resources to engage Trench openly. He wants you to attack. You’ll be walking into a trap.”

“He’s right, master,” Anakin voiced his opinion. “You won’t stand a chance.”

“Anakin,” Kenobi sighed. “I’ve got enough problems without you being one of them. Get those supplies to the rebel camp, I’ll worry about Trench. Just stay on course and—“

“Your tactic won’t work,” Skywalker protested. “Prep torpedo tubes one through four. Fix range on Trench’s command ship.”

“Sir?” Questioned the admiral, surprised.

“You heard me, admiral.” 

“What are you doing?” Kenobi’s voice raised in concern.

“We need to destroy Trench,” Anakin explained, “and this ship has the best chance of doing that.”

“I want those supplies on the surface, now.”

“Don’t worry I’m on it.”

“Anikin—“ Obi tried to reason with the man, but was cut off as the feed cut.

“Oh, my god,” Mara said quietly to herself as she watched the stealth ship turn off it’s cloaking and decide to fire on the command ship. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” The ship fired torpedos and then went back into stealth mode as enemy fire was launched at them. “Why didn’t he just deliver the goods, and then attacked them?” She asked no one in particular. She heard Kenobi talking, but didn’t bother turning back. He said that Trench had caught ships like this before, but it was a cruiser to cruiser fight. 

Anakin attempted to attack again. This time going straight at him, uncloaking, firing, and then barely touching the enemy ship as he skimmed past them. He made it past the blockade as the torpedoes hit the ship.

Next, everything continued as planned. The mission was a success. The fleet was destroyed and the supplies were delivered. 

**__________**

On the way back from the mission, Mara and some of the clones were eating lunch in the mess hall. Kenobi was a few tables over.

They were talking about how they would have been willing to go down to the surface and fight with the rebels. They were saying that they would “blast them all to pieces,” to quote one of them.

Mara asked the boys, “If your blasters were somehow destroyed, then what?”

“I guess we’d have to resort to hand to hand,” a clone said.

“How good are you guys at that kind of combat?” She asked them, looking around the table.

The clones looked at each other before one of them said, “I’d say we’re pretty good.”

“Really? That’s good.”

“How good are you at hand to hand?” Another clone asked her. The others on the table looked at her to see what she would say.

“I’d say I’m pretty good,” she responded. “There’s a specific technique that I use in order to survive…” After looking at their slightly confused faces, she elaborated. “On my planet, and this isn’t true for everyone, but for me, I have to live in hiding because of my wings. If I lived out in the open, I’d be seen as either, a monster, a weapon, or a trophy, a toy for rich people to dress up and claim as theirs.”

The table was silent for a moment before one of them spoke. “You said, survival, right?” He asked.

“Yes, yes I did.”

“What exactly does that entail?”

Mara smiled before she got up and gestured for the clone who asked that question to stand up. Hesitantly, he did. She assumed a fighting stance. So did he. “Try to punch me,” she said to him. Both of them didn’t notice that the room went silent, and that everyone in the Mess Hall was watching them.

Without a word, he tried to punch her. Mara instantly blocked and moved the clone’s fist to the left with her right hand and parried to the right. Next, her left hand held the arm that the clone used to punch in place as she took one step closer to him and punched him in the side of his neck right below the ear. That all happened within six seconds. He went down, disoriented. A chorus of ooo’s came from clones of different tables.

“That’s partly what it entails,” she told him. Mara then lended a hand to help him up, which he accepted.

“You better not be injuring my men, Mara,” Obi-wan called from his seat a few tables down.

“Oh, believe me General, I’m doing nothing of the sort,” her voice projected. “I’m merely disorienting them.

“Show me another move,” the clone she helped up requested as he got into the same fighting stance.

“Alright,” Mara said, going into the same stance. “Throw a punch with the same hand.” He did. This time, she blocked the punch with her left hand and parried to that same direction. Next, she held the attacker’s arm in place with her right hand. Taking a small step, she then swung her hands in a slightly upwards angle, hitting the clone in the neck twice (once with both hands). The man took a step back. Mara took this as her chance to hit him in the leg right below the knee on the back of his left leg with her shin. He went down. Another chorus of ooo’s escaped from the crowd's lips.

After a few seconds, she extended a hand to him again, asking, “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he said with a tone that suggested he was sore and possibly tired. If he didn’t have armor on, the kick to the leg would have hurt more. She went for the head because he didn’t have his helmet on.

“What exactly did you do?” asked another clone from her table. He sat on the other side.

“For which one?” The girl questioned him.

“Both, I suppose,” he stated as the other clone took his seat back.

Mara smiled, and faced him. “The first one, was a block and parry,” she said as she did the motions with her right hand and side. “Then with my other hand, I held his arm in place,” Mara stated as she brought her left hand forward from under her right hand. “Next, I just took a step forward and punched him,” she said, also demonstrating that. “I hit him right here.” The girl put her fist on the spot of her neck directly below and slightly behind the ear.

“And for the other one?” He requested.

Mara resumes her stance. “For the other one, I blocked and partied with this hand,” she demonstrated blocking with her left hand and moving to that same side. “Then, I held his arm in place like this,” she demonstrated her right arm coming forward from below her left and locking an imaginary target’s arm in place by locking her hand in a sideways open-palm position. “After that, I took a step forward,” the girl demonstrated. “Next, I swung both my arms in this angle and hit him in the neck.” Mara swung her arms, her hands both open-palmed facing down. “And finally, I hit him in this part of his leg,” She touched her leg on the part that she hit the clone with. “With my shin.”

“What is this fighting technique called anyway?” Asked a different clone. He sat two people away from her spot on the same table. 

“It’s called Eskrima. The martial art originated in a place of hardship, a country called The Philippines.” She sat back down. “I had the privilege of visiting that place both when I was in the service of an organization, and when I was running from that organization.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” another clone stated.

“You don’t have to,” she said as she went back to eating her meal.

On that note, the rest of the trip back was spent in a chill manner. Nothing really exciting was going on, unless you count the fact that Mara was teaching some of the clones Eskrima. Other than that, nothing was going on. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Am I on a role or what?


	5. Story Time and the Zillo Beast

Three days later, Mara hung around some of the younglings as they trained. Ahsoka, Skywalker and Kenobi went on a mission with her to a planet called Felucia. Barris and her master have also gone away on a mission. To which planet she wasn’t sure. They didn’t say.

Anyway, the younglings were taking a break and the youngest were requesting a story from her. They all sat around her as she thought of one. After already agreeing, she felt like she couldn’t back out. There were many stories she could choose from, especially if she’s taking them from movies or books.

What would be the best story to tell these children anyway? Perhaps Harry Potter, or the Chronicles of Narnia. Chronicles of Narnia it is.

“Alright, kids, once upon a time, during the second great war, a family divided themselves. The father went off to fight while the mother sent her kids away to the countryside. There were four children. Two sons, and two daughters, whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy. Last name, Pevensie. They were sent to a great big house where an old man lived. The very strict housekeeper, explains to the children that he is accustomed to hosting children. While playing hide and seek one day, Lucy, the youngest, hides in a wardrobe. Through all the coats, she tried to find the back of the fancy giant wooden crate, but alas could find no such thing. It seemed to stretch for miles. But then, she finds… tree branches, and snow on the ground.” Mara smiles at the kids’ astonished faces. “Curious, the girl ventures farther into this mysterious land. Seeing a lampost, she stares at it, wondering how it got there. However, her thoughts were interrupted as a rustling sound came from the surrounding bushes. It kept getting closer, and closer, until a man came out with an umbrella and scarf holding some packages. Upon closer inspection, she finds him to be a faun.”

“A faun?” asked one of the younglings. “What’s that?”

Mara smiled slightly. ‘ _Of course they don’t know what a faun is.’_ “A faun is a human with horns, very furry legs and hooves for feet.”

“Whoa, really?” 

“Yeah… The faun introduces himself as Mr. Tumnus and invites her to his home. He makes her a cup of tea and plays her a song on the flute. But this wasn’t just any instrument. No, once played, it can make anyone fall asleep. That’s just what happened to Lucy. She awakens to find a distraught Mr. Tumnus. He explained to her that Jadis, the White Witch has cursed Narnia into an eternal winter. If a human was encountered, they were to be brought to her. Tumnus could not bring himself to kidnap her. The faun even sends her home, disregarding the trees.”

“The trees?” another youngling questioned.

“Spies of the witch, always watching. Lucy exited the wardrobe to find that no time had passed. Her siblings didn’t believe her story.” Her story was cut short by Kit Fisto. 

He walked into the room saying, “Alright, little ones. It’s time to get back to training.”

The small crowd of younglings groaned. At that, both Fisto and Mara chuckled slightly. “Don’t worry, children, I’ll still be here when you get back.” Some of them said yay.

Kit watched them go before turning to Mara, saying, “Thank you for entertaining them, Mara.”

“Of course, Master Fisto.”

“It sounds like a pretty interesting story by the way,” the light green Jedi praised. “Witches, and sentient trees.”

“You should have been here when I told them about the magical wardrobe and faun.”

“Perhaps, yes.” With that, the master went away to help train the younglings.

—————

A few hours later, the younglings returned to her asking if she could finish the story.

“Alright guys, settle down,” Mara said as the kids seated themselves. “Now let’s see, where were we?” She asked no one in particular.

“You were saying that Lucy told her family what happened but they didn’t believe her,” one younglings stated.

Mara thought for a moment before saying. “Yes, yes I did. Good memory little one.” She then thought of the next parts of the plot. “Okay, so, one night, Edmund decided to follow Lucy into the wardrobe, entering the magical land of Narnia. While searching for Lucy, he meets the White Witch.” A few of the younglings quietly gasped in surprise. “She introduced herself as queen of the land. Noticing that he looked cold, she offered him a hot beverage, which he accepts. The Witch pours a strange liquid into the snow and it becomes a grand cup filled with tea. She then asks him if he would like anything else.” Mara then realizes that they don’t know what Turkish Delight is. “He replies telling her he wants a pastry. So, she pours the liquid into the snow again, and it becomes a grand container. Inside we’re the sweets he desired. Edmund makes the mistake of telling her about his siblings, not knowing that the queen was actually a witch. She then tells him that he could be a king if he brings her his siblings. After she departs, Lucy and Edmund find each other and they return to their world. Lucy excitedly tells their older siblings what happened, but Edmund denies it. Professor Kirke, the master of the house suggests that the girl was telling the truth. Her siblings remain unconvinced…”

Mara told of how all four of them ventured into the wardrobe after accidentally smashing a ball through the window. How they hid from the angry housekeeper by going into the wardrobe. She then told them how they met a strange creature who could talk after finding Mr. Tumnus’s house in tatters. Mara then spoke of the prophecy. At this point, Master Fisto had joined them as he too decided he wanted to know how the story ended.

She told of Edmund’s betrayal, the wolves, the fox, the jolly old fat man who gave the siblings gifts. How the witch could turn any being into stone. She spoke of how the remaining three siblings found the camp of the great beast known as Aslan, the king of Narnia. She told them of the deal that was made in order for Edmund to be returned safely, the sacrifice and battle that ensued. Then finally, the siblings return from the wardrobe after years and years of ruling the land. How the two kings and queens aged back to what they were when they entered the cabinet in the first place. How the Professor found them falling out of it, with him holding the ball that they crashed through his window.

When the tale was over, the children cheered. They then asked for another story.

“How about I tell you tomorrow children,” she replied. Reluctantly, they agreed.

It soon came common place to find the younglings listening to Mara speak of these great tales. Depending on how long the story was, she told a new one every day or every two days.

Ahsoka walked in on her telling the tale of The Lord of The Rings to them. She too found herself staying in that room until the story was either halted by an outside force or finished.

Mara inwardly thanked the many days and nights she spent with the flock back on earth wasting the hours away watching movies and TV shows.

__________

When Mara heard that Skywalker and Windu were bringing an enormous and dangerous creature to Coruscant she thought that they must have had a screw loose. 

They were taking an endangered creature, the last of its kind, from its natural, wild habitat and into a bustling city-planet filled with billions of people. Not only to keep there but to study it as well. To Mara, this spelled disaster all over it. 

The girl of course only hearing of this from Ahsoka, who was just informed of the situation by Anakin. Quickly, Mara raced over to the drop off point, hiding from the clones as she watched them move the beast from the ship into a gigantic container.

When the teen saw Masters Windu and Skywalker, along with the ‘bot R2-D2, she stepped in front of them saying, “Are you two insane?! You cannot have this creature be studied here!”

“Mara, I don’t like it either,” stated Mace Windu, “But it will be put on a planet in the outer rim as soon as this is over.”

“And what makes you think that this will ever be over?” She questioned. “What makes you think that researchers won’t just keep it for themselves for it to be studied—tortured! for as long as it lives?”

“Mara,” said Anakin gently. “They gave us their word that-“

“Their word means _nothing_ .” Her voice spouted venom while her eyes seemed ready to burst with tears. “As soon,” she inhaled in an effort to calm herself down. “As they find something as precious as this, they will never let it go.” She waited for them to give her another reason as to why everything will be fine in the end, but it never came. After a few seconds of silence, she said, “That thing will be angered by their attempts, and it _will_ break out and unleash destruction upon the planet.” With nothing more to say, she flew off.

Mace looked back at the scene before joining Anakin on the transport.

Mara got back to the temple. She barged into the council room just in time to catch Windu talking to Kenobi as the white male said, “Then maybe it’s time for someone else to try.”

“Master Kenobi,” Mara started but was cut short. The ginger put his hand up as if to signal her to stop talking.

“I _know_ , Mara,” Obi-wan stated. “I don’t like it either. Mace Windu and I were just talking about it-“

“And?” The teenager urged.

“ _And,_ if the chancellor won’t listen to us, then he might listen to a senator, or Skywalker for that matter,” he reasoned.

“And if he doesn’t?” Her voice was calmer now, slightly quivering. There was silence before she said, “I could-“ but was interrupted by Kenobi.

“With all due respect, Mara, the chancellor doesn’t know you exist. If he finds out about your abilities in any way, you might suffer the same fate as the Zillo Beast!”

“I won’t let that happen! And trust me, I know the risks!”

“We have already decided to give the task to Senator Amedala and General Skywalker,” Windu informed calmly

“They won’t be enough,” Mara countered.

“Maybe not, but we have to try,” Kenobi voiced.

—————

Night was looming over this side of the planet when an alarm blared throughout the city. “I knew it,” Mara stated.

Quickly she rushed to the room she knew she’d find Master Yoda in. Once she got there, she found Aayla Secura there as well.

“Where is it?” She asked.

“It’s on top of the senate building,” Secura informed. “Masters Kenobi and Windu are on their way now with stormtroopers.”

“They will not be enough,” Mara stated.

“Help, perhaps you should. Sonic wave you should release,” Yoda advised.

“And expose myself to the senate and the world to risk myself being seen and possibly sought after in the worst way? No thank you. Besides, my sonic cry isn’t powerful enough for it. They should have just let the beast go onto an outer rim planet where it would not be disturbed.”

After a few minutes of watching the events unfold, Yoda stated, “To the field we must go. In grave danger, the chancellor is.” The two Jedi looked to Mara to see if she would go too.

The teen thought about it for a small moment. “The chancellor brought this upon himself, but… I’ll go.” If they fail to recapture or kill the beast, at least she’ll get to watch the downfall of the chancellor. From what she’s heard, and from what’s been going on since that beast was brought here, then it might be nice to see him die. Of course, she’ll do well to mask that intention.

When the transport dropped them off, the three of them went to Windu and Kenobi.

Yoda informed, “Hold your fire. In the beast’s clutches the chancellor is.”

“Anakin might be with him, and Senator Amidala,” Kenobi theorized.

“If the beast falls, at risk their lives shall be,” Yoda stated.

All of a sudden, a clone came up to them with news. He held some binoculars. “Sir, looks like the General’s up to something.” He handed it to Windu.

The Jedi master took the binoculars in his hands and glanced into them before he asked, “What is Skywalker doing?”

Kenobi took the binoculars and did the same. He concluded, “It appears to be one of Anakin’s improvised plans.”

Windu sighed. “How can it be a plan if it’s improvised?”

“Not to worry, just catch them when they fall.”

“A lot of the General’s plans involve falling,” Rex inputted.

“Distract the beast we shall,” Yoda concluded. “To give Anakin more time.” The small Jedi and Aayla Secura went into a small transport towards the direction of the Zillo beast.

Once they got close enough, the two Jedi went onto the beast, their lightsabers ignited. Meanwhile, Skywalker managed to cut the ship in half. Padmé, himself, and the two droids slid down ahead of the broken ship. The Chancellor and a guard were still in there. It was sliding down rapidly.

“Catch it!” Kenobi called as both he and Windu managed to slow the sliding part of the ship to a halt.

Mara didn’t need the binoculars to see that Padmé was about to fall off the building. Luckily, Anakin managed to pull her up using the force, while the droids managed to latch onto the building itself.

Then, Kenobi and Windu used a transport to get everyone. Mara continued her resolve to not help either side.

All of the surrounding ships opened fire on the creature. Tanks on the ground began firing as well. After it destroyed one of the ships, the beast put its focus back on Palpatine. But then, Skywalker’s droid saved him as the guard was crushed by the Zillo beast’s feet. Next, they used the gas bombs. With one final shriek, it fell. Sliding down the senate building. 

By morning it was ferried off in a cruiser.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt sad writing this... poor Zillow beast.


	6. The Academy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyyy it’s Mandalore time!

A few weeks after the Zillo Beast incident, a deep seeded corruption was brought into light on Mandalore by the Dutchess. Senator Amedala was paying a visit on the planet when it happened. Together, both of them uncovered the greed that seeded itself into Mandalore’s government. 

Two days after the news of such an even reached Mara’s ears Ahsoka came up to her with a request.

“You want me to go with you to Mandalore?” Mara questioned her friend.

“Yes. The Jedi council has tasked me with teaching the government officials of the future Mandalore about corruption,” Ahsoka explained, plopping herself onto Mara’s bed.

Mara was putting away freshly washed garments. “And you want me to come because?”

“You can help me.”

“I’m sure you are perfectly capable of teaching them by yourself.”

“Well, yes, but… I still feel like someone else should do this… Am I wrong in assuming that you were once a pawn in a corrupt company’s plans?”

Mara didn’t even think before replying, “You are correct in your assumptions.”

“Then you can provide insight. Besides, it would be nice for me to have a friend there and it would be good for you to get out into the universe.”

The winged girl thought it over as she put away more of her clothes. After she put away the last of her shirts she said, “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

__________

The human accompanied the Togruta to the ship, which Anakin was manning. It was a relatively small ship. Mara was able to get clearance from the Jedi Council to tag along.

While on the jump through hyperspace, Ahsoka was still questioning if she was the right person to do this. “The Jedi Council gave you both a mission, it’s your duty to see it through,” her Jedi master told her as he brought the ship out of hyperspace and into the planet’s atmosphere.

“Don’t you think I’m just a little overqualified for this?” Ahsoka questioned.

“According to Senator Amidala, Mandalore is a deeply corrupt word,” Anakin stated. He turned to look at his Padawan. “If the cycle is to be broken, the future leaders at the Royal Academy of Government must learn the evils of corruption. Yoda feels that only young people like yourselves,” he glanced back at Mara sitting behind him. “Can get through to them.”

“Whoa,” Mara said softly as she looked out the windows of the spacecraft. She looked to see a strange maybe almost desolate world. Desolate if it weren’t for all the structures scattered about. The place they were headed was located inside a giant dome.

They landed on one of the docks. A greeting party awaited them. The three of them stepped out. Master Skywalker, then Ahsoka standing right beside him. Mara walked a few steps behind them.

Anakin was the first to speak. “Duchess Satine,” he greeted as he kissed her hand. “Prime Minister Almec,” he acknowledged.

“Master Skywalker,” the Duchess began, “So good to see you again.” She then turned to Ahsoka. “This is your Padawan I assume.”

“Yes, my lady,” the Jedi stated. “May I present, Ahsoka Tano.”

“Duchess, Prime Minister,” Tano greeted.

The ruler of Mandalore then looked between them to Mara. “And who is this?” She questioned.

“My name is Mara Gyr,” the girl introduced herself with a slight bow and sip of the head. “I’m a friend of Ahsoka. She asked me to come.”

“Well then,” the Duchess continued. “I am grateful that the Jedi Council could spare the three of you to help instruct or leaders and peacekeepers of tomorrow. Please thank Master Yoda for me.”

Anakin and Ahsoka looked between each other. “Um, I’m afraid that due to our limited resources, I must return to battle immediately.”

“So you will not be staying, Master Skywalker?” The Prime Minister questioned. Mara had just begun to notice his purple eyes. 

“No, but I assure you,” the Jedi master said as he gestured to both girls. “Padawan Tano is a highly capable Jedi, and Miss Gyr is a very wise, intelligent young woman. They have the full confidence of the council.”

“Very well,” stated the Prime Minister. He then turned to his right side, looking behind him. “Cadet Korkie, Amis, Lagos.” He then turned to look at the two young ladies. “These are some of the cadets that you will be instructing, Padawan Tano, Miss Gyr.”

“Nice to meet all of you,” Ahsoka greeted.

Mara smiled before repeated the Padawan. One of them, a boy’s eyes widened as he glanced at Tano’s lightsaber. He bent over slightly to get a better look at it as he asked, “That’s a fine weapon. May I see it?”

The Padawan was about to reach for her saber when the minister stopped them. “I’m afraid not,” he said. “Because if Master Kenobi’s recent visit and the trouble that followed, no Offworlders may carry weapons on Mandalore.”

Mara’s eyes widened and her lips curled up for a brief second while Ahsoka voiced, “Master Obi-wan caused trouble? That’s a first.”

Anakin sighed and said, “Just give me the lightsaber.”

“Do you not carry any weapon?” The same boy asked Mara. Seeing that she doesn’t have a lightsaber.

The teen resisted the urge to state: I am a weapon, and said instead, “No, I do not.”

“Thank you for respecting our ways, Master Jedi,” Duchess Satine said.

Rex came up to the group and went right to Anakin. “Excuse my interruption sir, but it _is_ time to depart. General Fisto is expecting us.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” the Jedi master said before turning around and leaving the young women where they stood.

Ahsoka smiled kindly as they went to take the transport to the school.

__________

Once inside the classroom, Ahsoka started. “Hello everyone,” she began. “I am Ahsoka Tano, this is my associate, Mara Gyr… Corruption is what happens when someone in power puts their own personal gain before the interests of the people they represent.” Some of the students copied that down.

“So, it’s a result of greed?” One student questioned. Unlike most of the children in the room, she had brunette hair. The only other two people in that room who weren’t blonde were Mara and Ahsoka. Mara had jet black hair while Ahsoka has white and blue head tails.

“Yes,” Mara stated. “In fact, greed is the seed that can root itself deep within the foundation of any organization. Not just the government, but the banks, the research facilities, the medical boards, the press, anyone.”

“A leader sacrifices moral integrity for the sake of money or power,” Ahsoka stated. “Entire star systems have collapsed into chaos.”

“Revolutions have started because their greedy politicians got caught up in a cycle of bribery and blackmail while their people suffered.”

“Does that mean that most government officials are corrupt?” Another student, presumably Amis, asked.

“Well, no,” the Togruta answered. “But the point is that temptation is always present, and citizens must be vigilant so corruption can’t take root. The deadliest enemies of a society dwell within its borders. And from these internal threats, the people need to be protected.”

“But if you don’t trust your leaders, isn’t that treason?” A male student questioned.

“No,” Mara replied. “It might simply mean that you don’t agree with their policies. But it _is_ every citizen’s duty to question their leaders and to keep them honest. Hold them accountable if they aren’t.”

“How do you do that?” Asked another.

“By exposing corrupt officials for what they are,” Ahsoka stated. “Lasting change can only come from within.”

Time was up. The lesson for today was finished. Tano handed out instructions for their homework. When the class was dismissed, Mara called out, “Be sure your assignments are prepared for tomorrow.”

——————

Both of them were given separate rooms, but Mara chose to hang out in Ahsoka’s room for the time being.

“You know, you never told any of us what it was like for you on your home planet,” Ahsoka pointed out. She sat on the bed while Mara leaned against the wall.

“And if I can, I would like to keep it that way. It isn’t something I would enjoy speaking of, or even want to. All of my nightmares are from my,” she used air quotes, “Childhood.”

“You don’t have to keep the pain inside. Let me help you.” The Togruta offered as she got off the bed and stepped towards her friend. Mara moves away from the wall.

“Ahsoka,” the human girl said, hugging her arms. “My scars run deep. The mental and physical ones.”

“And that’s okay.” 

Mara then turned to the door. “Good night, Ahsoka.”

“Good night,” the Togruta stated as her friend went back to her room.

__________

The next day, in class, they were going over the previous lecture, making some additions, and restatements when Ahsoka stopped. 

“Korkie,” the Padawan singles out. “You seem distracted today. What’s going on?”

“We did what you said,” the boy stated. “We found evidence of corruption.”

“Oh?” Mara asked, almost smiling.

“What do ya mean?” The Togruta questioned. Her hand settling on her hip.

“Well, we were hungry,” Amis stated. “So we decided to go look for food.”

“And where, might I ask did you look?”

“Down at the government warehouse,” Lagos answered.

Tano and Gyr looked between each other. “Someone just let you into the warehouse?” The Padawan asked. One of the white markings resembling eyebrows on her face went up. Her suspicions rising.

“No, we broke in,” Lagos tattled. To that Mara smiled.

The girl in front of him facepalmed and said, “Oh great.”

“So you committed a crime?” Tano asked them.

“It sounds bad, I know,” Korkie continued “but then we saw a meeting, and—offworlders-“

“-and they chased us,” Amis projected.

“Perhaps, and this is maybe just speculation, but mayhaps they chased you because you broke into a government warehouse?” Mara voiced.

“No, it was a black market deal. I know it,” Korkie tried to plead his case. “My aunt Satine told us to stay out of it, but we must do something!”

“Show us the proof,” Mara ordered. “If you have it.”

“We made a holo-recording,” the brunette girl presented the device. “The Prime Minister is meeting us tonight to-”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Tano questioned.

“He could be in on this,” Mara theorized. “He could be taking your blind sense of security with him and have you four killed.”

“Mara!” Ahsoka tried.

“What?” asked the human girl. “I’m being realistic.”

“I thought you said it was our duty to expose corrupt officials,” Lagos called out.

The Padawan walked slowly closer to the desks as she said, “I’m only saying that you should take this slowly. Examine all the facts, and all of the people involved before you act. My colleague could be correct after all.” To that, Mara smiled.

Before anything else could be said, the bell toned. Class was dismissed. As the kids went away, Gyr’s smile faded. When they were completely gone, Mara turned to her companion and said, “Those kids are walking into a trap. We have to help them in some way.”

“Agreed.”

__________

When it came to be night time, Mara and Ahsoka followed the kids to the meeting spot. They laid low until the kids starting to resist arrest. Tano kicked one of them in the face as she jumped from their perch. She then leaped and kicked another guy in the face. Mara Jumped down and punched one of them in the gut, stealing their police stick. She then waited another to attack her. Once someone did, she waited for them to get close enough before sweeping them off their feet by putting the police stick under their front leg and lifting, sending the man backwards. She then ran up to the remaining two, jumped, made her body horizontal, and kicked both of them hard in the chest, sending them down.

The guards seemed to have sense in them as they then fled the scene.

“Welp, I was right. The Prime Minister tried to have you four killed,” Mara saia as she stretched her arms slightly. As she helped the brunette girl up, Ahsoka helped Lagos to his feet.

“That’s treason He’s the leader of our system,” Korkie denied. “He couldn’t possibly be a traitor.”

“Blind,” Mara called him.

“What?” he asked as he stepped up to her.

“Open your eyes, Korkie. He might be close to you, but you have to step back and examine all the facts.”

“We still need proof,” Ahsoka advised.

“We have the recording,” the brunette told. Everyone formed a circle as the girl placed the holo-recorder in the center. The recording played.

“That’s no good,” stated Korkie. “We can’t see who it is.”

The hologram spun. All of a sudden, Ahsoka had an idea. “Wait. Stop right there,” she put her hand up. The Togruta then got a gadget out of her pocket. “Information retrieval. I need you to I.D. a hologram.” The device scanned the picture. The group watched as the hologram changed from a faceless person in a hood, to the Prime Minister wearing a hood.

“That’s him!” Korkie stated excitedly.

“You’re right! That is the Prime Minister!” the brunette realized before stashing the holo-recording in her pocket.

“We have to take this to my aunt and warn her,” Korkie stated. He then looked to be thinking. He realised, “They know I talked to her.” As soon as he started running off, the rest of the group followed.

__________

Once at the entrance to her office, they realized that they were too late, as a guard lay by the door. Ahsoka went to check on him. She checked his pulse. “He’s dead,” the Togruta concluded.

Korkie was about to rush into the room when the padawan stopped him. “Korkie, wait.” He didn’t listen. “The intruders may still be inside.”

Everyone went into the room. The lights were off. No one was there except the dead guards who lay on the floor.

“They took her,” the nephew of the Duchess concluded. His knees bent as he went close to the ground covering his face. “This is all my fault.” Amis tried to comfort him, but he pushed her away as her got back up. The teen boy walked forward, saying, “Who knows what they’ve done to her.”

“Now what?” asked lagos. “How’re we s’pposed to find her?” They looked to the Jedi Padawan and her friend.

“Who can we trust?” Amis questioned.

“We need all of you to calm down and focus,” Ahsoka instructed. “We know the Prime Minister is behind this.”

“After my aunt he’s the most powerful person on Mandalore,” Korkie informed.

“So, let’s go talk to him,” Ahsoka told them.

“Right,” Lagos agreed.

“No,” Mara said, the teens instantly looked disappointed. “Here’s what we’re gonna 

The Mandalorians looked between each other nervously.

__________

With the escort of the guards, Ahsoka Tano and Mara Gyr were able to get into the Prime Minister’s office. Once they came in, he voiced, “Master Jedi, Miss, this is an unexpected pleasure.” He folded his hands together. “What can I do for you?’

“Actually Prime Minister, it’s what _we_ can do for you,” Tano stated as she bowed. Mara did the same. Next, Ahsoka gestured for the guards to bring in the prisoners. 

“We believe that some of our students are involved in a conspiracy,” Mara told him. “Against you.”

The Minister sat straight up as he said simply, “Intriguing.” He had them taken to prison immediately. Mara and Tano accompanied him as he saw them go in. 

Korkie turned around and stopped walking. “You can’t do this. We trusted you Master Tano, Miss Gyr.” He was then ushered inside by a guard.

“Thank you for bringing the traitors to justice, Master Jedi, Miss Gyr,” the Prime Minister thanked. He stood behind them.

“They mentioned that Duchess Satine was their leader,” Ahsoka mentioned to him, turning around. Mara did the same. “We should arrest her too.”

“Do nott worry,” he said to them. “We already have her in custody.”

“Really?” Mara questioned. “Where?”

“That is none of your concern,” he dismissed her questions. “Now, I must prepare a public statement about the Duchess and her crimes.”

The two girls gave each other weird looks as he went away. They then went to the guard blocking the entrance.

“Excuse us,” Mara stated. “We need to interrogate the new prisoners.” The man only gave a nod as he stepped aside, allowing them to go in. Guards escorted them on their way to the cell. They then waited outside.

Once they went in, Ahsoka cautioned them. “Careful, we’re being watched,” she said quietly.

The ones who were sitting down were now standing up. Quickly, they asked their questions. “Did he buy it?” “Have you found my aunt?”

“Not exactly,” Mara informed.

“But we do know that they have her in custody,” Ahsoka inputted.

“Where?” Korkie asked. 

“The Prime Minister wouldn’t tell us,” the Togruta stated.

“I knew this plan wouldn’t work,” Lagos groaned as he moved back into a seating position.

“Have a little faith,” Mara told them. “We’re find them. We just need to modify the plan a bit.”

“How are you going to do that?” The brunette questioned.

“You’ll know when to act when I give the signal,” the Togruta informed.

“What’s the signal?” questioned Korkie.

“You’ll know it when you see it,” she informed. The padawan looked to Mara who nodded. Upon exiting the cell, Ahsoka went up to the guard. Using her Jedi mind tricks, she said, “You will take us to Duchess Satine.”

“I will take you to Duchess Satine,” the guard repeated. He turned to leave, the two young women following him. They were lead down a long corridor. At the end of which sat a glass spire. The Duchess was held on the top. Mara could only assume that the control panel was to control the placement of her cell, movinging it up or down. Light’s followed as the girls and the guards got closer.

Ahsoka reached for the controls but was halted. “What are you doing?” asked a guard.

She used her mind tricks again, “I must interrogate the Duchess.” He repeated her sentence. She pressed a few buttons. The spire shrunk until Satine’s cell was on ground level. She looked weak. Once the cell doors opened, the Duchess fell to the floor.

“We’re going to get you out of here,” Mara whispered as she went up to the woman.

“Mara, it’s a trap,” the Duchess warned. 

Immediately after that sentence was spoken, the Prime Minister along with two guards came out of the shadows. “I see you have found the Duchess, younglings,” he said. “You may stop your play acting now, Sergeant.”

The two guards near the girls turned around and stood at attention. They simultaneously said, “Prime Minister, Sir.”

“Using a Jedi mind trick was a very poor decision,” the minister informed. He, along with a few other guards stepped closer as he said, “My guards have been trained to resist such archaic magic. And now you have revealed yourselves as conspirators.”

A large gun fired up as the man ordered, “Set for stun!” It blasted both of the girls. It didn’t knock them out however. Instead it just weakened them severely. “You little fools.” The Prime Minister has them handcuffed while he had the duchess uncuffed.

The man then put a data pad in front of the Duchess. He instructed, “Sign it. Sign your confession and admit your treasonous ways.” Mara and Ahsoka struggled as best they could to get out of the guard’s grasps.

“There is only one traitor to Mandalore, Prime Minister,” Satine told him. “And that’s you. You control the black market. You have betrayed the public’s trust and use your office to accumulate more wealth and power. It’s shameful. 

The purple-eyed man only laughed as he said, “Your idealism is inspiring, my dear, but hopelessly naive.” He then took a small step forward. “I established the black market for the people.”

“That’s absurd,” Ahsoka told him, still resisting arrest.

“The war is disrupting trade across the galaxy,” the Prime Minister informed. He then turned away from Satine as he said, “The profits from the black market are being used to purchase humanitarian supplies for Mandalore.” He stepped a few paces to his right. “Think of it as a new tax in the interest in national security.”

“It’s a tax for your benefit, Prime Minister,” Satine interjected. “Where are these humanitarian supplies you speak of?”

It seems as if the man has had enough as he ordered, “Sergeant, put the shock collar on her.” Duchess Satine was about to speak in retaliation, but the Sergeant put the collar on her before sounds could come out of her mouth.”

“My patience is worn thin, Duchess,” he said to her. “Maybe this will convince you.” he pressed a button and the collar turned on. Her posture stiffened as the small lightening cracked around her neck. Ahsoka and Mara tried harder to get out of the guard’s hold. The Prime Minister then turned the collar off.

“I would rather die than sign your confession,” the Duchess told him in a weak voice.

“That can be arranged,” the man stated.

As Ahsoka struggled harder, she said, “You’re wasting your time.”

“Bring me those traitorous cadets,” the purple-eyed man requested. A guard left for them straight away.

“No,” Satine protested. “You can’t.” She turned her body to face him while still on her knees. “They’re just children.”

The kids were soon brought in, cuffed. The Minister stated, “I’m afraid your nephew will have to suffer needlessly. Put the shock collar on cadet Korkie.” A guard holding another collar walked towards the boy. 

Ahsoka and Mara looked at each other and nodded. The Togruts headbutted the guard that held her, making him lose his grip. and flipped so that her cuffed hands were in front of her. Meanwhile, with the help of her wings, Mara pushed herself free of her guard and tornado kicked him in the face. She was careful not to let anyone see her wings however. She had to flap while they were still underneath her garment.

The guard that Mara kicked was down for the count, but the one that Tano headbutted was still conscious. He rushed at her and she elbowed him in the face. The two girls got together back to back as they tried to finish the others off.

“Go,” Korkie told his friends. In the next instant, the four of them all body slammed their guards.

The Prime Minister was about to press something on the console when Ahsoka used the force to pry him away from the box of machinery and into a guard who was starting to get back up. The remaining guards had started to box the two women in a circle. The Jedi force pushed them away, but some of them got back to their feet.

There was still the strange ion gun that had now started firing. Korkie and his friends were still attacking their opponents by jumping on them and body slamming them.

“I’ll take care of it,” Mara voiced. Ahsoka focused on the remaining guards as Mara took a deep breath and released a sonic cry right in the stream of another ion burst which dissipated. The sonic wave then made its way over to the machine itself which short circuited. 

As that was happening, the Prime Minister walked back towards the control panel, but Ahsoka leg swept him before he could press any buttons. She then put the collar on him. “Got ya,” she said as she pressed the button.

Out of the two guards that were left, one of them rushed towards Ahsoka, while the other went to help out the minister. “Stop the fighting,” he commanded. They stopped moving.

With the Prime Minister now defeated, Duchess Satine stood up and ordered, “Send for my personal guards.” Ahsoka nodded and went to get them.

After they arrived, they placed the Prime Minister in the same cell that Satine was held in. The corrupt policemen were arrested and sent to different cells. Everyone but them were uncuffed. After the purple-eyed minister was sent to the top of the cell, the duchess turned towards Ahsoka and Mara, saying, “You must know by now that I didn’t request your presence here just to teach. I knew something was amiss, but I had no one to trust. I thought that if I brought a jedi, especially a friend of Senator Amidala’s, we could solve this mystery together.”

“I never doubted you duchess,” Ahsoka stated. She then looked to her companion. “Neither of us did.”

Nither did we,” stated Korkie as he hugged his aunt. After the hug concluded itself, the teen asked, “Hey, Mara?” The girl turned to him. “I just wanted to ask before you went away. How can you do what you did to that gun?” He referred to the one she aimed her sonic cry at.

The girl glanced down before responding, “I am the result of two corrupt systems. A hospital, susceptible to bribery, and a research facility stealing children away from their parents so that they could conduct illegal experiments on them.”

He seemed surprised by that answer, as everyone was. The boy studied the floor before saying, “Oh, well, I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s alright, at least I got out of there alive,” she said.

__________

Skywalker’s shuttle was returning. Some guards, as well as the four cadets with the Duchess were there at the docks to see the two teenage girls off. As the ship landed, Korkie stated, “It was an honor to serve with both of you.”

Gyr and Tano looked at each other and smiled. They both gave him a slight bow as Ahsoka said, “It was our privilege to be your teacher.” The two girls nodded to the Duchess, who nodded back. 

As the girls turned to leave, Anakin stepped off the ramp of his spaceboat. He stood there with crossed arms as the two girls walked up to him. He said, “I hope this assignment wasn’t too boring for you girls.”

Mara smiled while Ahsoka stated, “Eh, it had its moments”

“Oh, like the one where you convinced untrained children to help overthrow a corrupt government?” the Jedi Master asked as he flipped Ahsoka’s saber in his hands.

The Togruta grabbed her light sword from his hands as she admitted, “That was a highlight.” She then walked ahead of both of them to get into the ship.

“Sounds pretty risky,” Skywalker told her. She stopped. “Both of you are lucky you didn’t get hurt.”

“Nothing you wouldn’t have done,” Mara said as she passed him to get into the ship. The Jedi master considered her words before smiling and entering the ship.

The shuttle then sped off.


	7. Assassination Attempt

The day after their arrival back on Coruscant, Mara felt like it could be a good day. Contrary to Ahsoka, however, as she seemed heavily distracted during breakfast.

“Hey, are you okay?” Mara asked her friend.

“I don’t know,” the Togruta stated, eating a spoonful of cereal. “I’ve been having these weird dreams lately.”

“Yeah?” Mara asked, taking a sip of her juice. “What’s it about?”

“I think-I think that Aurra Sing might still be alive.”

The winged human contemplated her words. “Hmm. It might be a premonition, or it might just be nightmares… I don’t know, why don’t you just Tell Yoda about it and see what he thinks?”

“Yeah, I should do that shouldn’t I?”

—————

Mara found herself surrounded by younglings again. 

“Can you tell us another story?” a female youngling asked. The others joined in on the questioning.

“Alright, alright,” Mara stated in an attempt to quiet them down. They did eventually. “Now, which Harry Potter story did I leave off on?” After going through all the Narnia’s and the Lord Of The Rings, and even the Hobbit stories, she moved onto Harry Potter. The girl had told them one or two of them before leaving for Mandalore.

“You, finished telling us the one with the werewolf,” another youngling answered.

“You idiot, it’s called Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban,” a human male youngling corrected harshly.

“Hey,” Mara said to them, her voice stern. “That’s not nice. Besides, both of you are correct.” At that, both kids’ eyes widened and they smiled. “Okay, his next adventure: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Harry had been invited to go to a Quidditch World Cup game by the Weasleys. They had also invited Hermione Granger. It was all fun and games until Death Eaters attacked,” she said eerily.

“Death eaters?” Questioned a youngling.

“Yes,” Mara explained, “Wizards and/or witches who seek to purify the Wizarding World of muggle-borns. They are the group Lord Voldemort commanded.”

“Whoa,” said a few of the younglings.

“They attacked, and everyone fled,” Mara continued. “Now. This year of Hogwarts was no ordinary year. No, this year, Hogwarts was home to two other schools. One of them was a school of all boys called Durmstrang. The other, was an all girls school called Beauxbatons. Together, one representative from each school, will compete for the TriWizard’s cup, in the TriWizard’s Tournament. Younglings, this is not a contest to be taken lightly. It is not for the faint of heart. There are three trials which will be carried out through the year.” Mara’s eyes wandered to the door to find a Jedi master telling her it’s time for them to go back to practice. “More on that when you come back, children.” A few of them groaned in disappointment. “Get your lightsaber techniques down. Complete your studies.”

“And what were you telling them about this time, Mara?” Asked Adi Gallia, another Jedi interested in her stories.

“Just another of those Harry Potter stories,” the human girl answered as she got up and stretched her arms.

“Another? How many are there?”

“Seven, eight, if you split the last one in half.”

“Well, they are good stories nonetheless.” With that, the Jedi left the room.

Not much sooner, Ahsoka came in with quick and heavy steps. “Ahsoka,” Mara acknowledged. “Did you speak with Yoda?”

“Yes, and he just told me to meditate on it,” the Togruta told her.

“And have you?”

“Yes…” the Padawan sat down. A worried look plastered all over her face. “I saw Aurra Sing attempt to assassinate Senator Amidala.”

“Are you sure?” Mara questioned, sitting down next to her friend.

“Yes.”

“Well then, what are you doing here? Go to her. Protect her.”

With little hesitation, Tano went away to stop the Assassination. Apparently, from what Mara’s heard from around the bend, the senator from Naboo is to address the increasing humanitarian problem of the war refugees. An interesting thing to address. 

—————

Hours later, the children return, ready for the story to continue.

“Before all of the things with the TriWizard tournament occur, I want to introduce to you a character named Alastor Moody. He was their new defense against the dark arts teacher. For their first lesson, he taught them about the three unforgivable curses.”

“Curses?” Asked on of the younglings.

“Yes, curses. Bad spells that are considered very dangerous. Especially the use of the three unforgivable ones. For they would grant you a one way ticket to Azkaban. Do any of you recall what Azkaban is?”

“It’s a prison,” one of the younglings blurted out.

“Yes,” Mara confirmed, “A very torturous prison. They still use the dementors.”

“Anyway children,” she continued. “The first one he introduced, was the imperious curse. This curse places the victim under the caster’s control. In other words, the caster has complete control over the movements of the victim. The second curse was the cruciatus curse. The torture curse. When cast, it inflicts excruciating pain on the victim. And finally, Avada Kedavra. The killing curse.”

She let that sink in before continuing. “Now, when the time came to choose the champions of this year’s tournament, everyone gathered in the Great Hall. The goblet of fire spit out its first name, Feur Delacour, Beauxbatons. Then, a champion from Durmstrang, Viktor Krum, was chosen. The final, a champion from Hogwarts, a Hufflepuff named Cedric Diggory was chosen. As Dumbledore revealed the TriWizard Cup, the trophy of this event, the goblet spit out another name. Harry Potter.”

“But I thought that only three were to be chosen,” a youngling voiced from the small crowd of little Jedi. “Yeah,” a few seconded.

“Now, now, children,” Mara stated. “It was rumored that someone older put in his name.” A couple of O’s escaped the lips of the children. “Draco teased Harry that his father and him had a bet over how long Potter would last. His father, said five minutes, while Draco said ten. Infuriated, Harry came up to the boy and pushed him, saying that he doesn’t care what his father thinks, and that he is a cold and cruel man. As Harry was walking away, Draco was about to unleash a spell on him while his back was turned. Seeing this, Moody, shouts at him and turns him into a ferret. A small mammalian creature with fur and a long body. Anyway, once McGonagall sees what’s going on, she stops them. Everyone continues on with their day.

“A week or so before the first trial, Hagrid had told Harry that the first task involved dragons.” Before she could continue, another youngling spoke up.

“What’s a dragon?” a child asked her.

“Were you here when I told of the tale, The Hobbit?”

The boy thought over it for a few minutes. “No,” he answered.

“Well,” Mara thought on how to exactly decide what how to describe them, again. “They are big scaly creatures that walk on all fours, have tails, horns on their heads, wings, some have spikes coming out of their spines. A lot of them vary in shape, size and color of the scales, but most of them have one thing in common. They breathe fire!”

“Whoa,” he breathed out in amazement. 

“Anyway,” Mara continued. “The other headmasters of the other two schools heard and told their champions. Harry then told Cedric. The day of the trial, they picked their dragons out of a little bag. They were able to do so, because there were shrunken down versions of the real dragons in that bag. Their objective was to steal a golden egg from the massive creatures. If they failed to do so, then they will not have any clues as to what the next challenge will be.”

First, was Cedric. He chose to transform a rock into a dog to distract the beast. It worked for a time, until the dragon’s attention was brought on him again. He barely escaped with the golden egg in hand.”

Next, was Fleur. She charmed the dragon to sleep but her skirt was caught on fire for a moment, as the hot air coming from the dragon’s nostrils brushed past her. She was still able to get the egg after putting the fire out.”

After her, was Viktor, he used a blinding curse. With that, he got to the egg rather quickly, but was docked points, as the poor dragon had crushed some of her real eggs whilst stumbling about without sight.”

“When it was Harry’s turn, he summoned his broomstick, the Firebolt he received from an unknown person last year. With that, he outflew the dragon, even going so far as to lure it out of the arena before going back to snatch the egg. Harry and Viktor tied for first place, while Cedric was in second and Fleur was in third. Overjoyed, the Gryffindors celebrate in their common room. One of them asks Harry to open the golden egg. Once he does, however, a horrid shrieking sound surrounds them. Hermione was the only one who moved to shut it, as the noise severely bothered everyone else.”

All of a sudden, Ahsoka comes into the room. Now realizing that it must be late, Mara concludes the story telling for the day, saying that she’ll continue this tomorrow. Groaning and complaining, the kids slowly left the room.

Now that the two were alone, Mara was the first to speak. “How’d things go?”

“Well, I told the Senator about it, and her and her personal guard agreed to let me accompany them to the planet Alderaan for a conference in order to address increasing humanitarian issues of the war refugees…” she sat down. “I-I got so paranoid. I feared for her safety, but Padmé told me that she felt the same when she was Queen of Naboo.”

“And did that ease you at all?” Mara asked as she moved to sit next to her friend.

“Only a little,” the Togruta stated, glancing at Gyr’s unchanged face. “Anyway, during the speech, I sensed Aurra. She was there. Luckily I was able to save the Senator from being shot in the head. The blaster bolt went into her shoulder, and the assassin got away.”

“That’s not the end of the story right? Because otherwise you took your time getting back to Coruscant,” Mara stated.

“No. It’s not. I devised a plan for a luxury droid to dress up in her robes and have her speak through telecommunication.”

“And did it work?” Mara asked, now realizing that Ahsoka never said if Amedala is alive or not. Her body language suggests tired, not defeated.

“Yeah. We caught her, the Senator is safe.”

“That’s good.”

“But she didn’t do this on her own though. We have someone in custody that I think hired her. Anakin and I are going to the prison to see if I’m right.”

“Cool,” Mara stood up. So did the Togruta. “Good luck. I probably shouldn’t be keeping you from doing that.”

“Got it. Thanks.”

With that, the two of them went their separate ways. A day later, Mara was able to finish telling Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She told them about the Yule Ball, the other two trials, Cedric’s death, Voldemort’s return, the memory thing, and the how Mad Eye Moody was being impersonated by Barty Crouch Jr.

Over the course of the week, a Hut received more time in jail for his connections to Aurra Sing’s attempted assassination of Senator Amedala. But then, with the help of a few more mercenaries, Aurra broke him out of prison. In an attempt to chase him down, Kenobi and another Jedi Quinlan Vos went to the Hut home planet, but found the slug dead.


	8. Reflection of Mortis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven’t posted in a little while, but that’s alright ‘cuz I have a new chapter.

“So, how was the rescue mission?” Mara asked Ahsoka. It’s been weeks since the encounter with The Family, as Mara called them. Tano had just come back from a rescue mission that was meant to rescue a Jedi and his crew with valuable information that could turn the tide of the war.

“Not great,” the Togruta stated, downbeat.

“I see. Well, the best you can do is look past it.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She left. The Padawan’s probably more down in the dumps than anything. The two of them haven’t really spoken since The Family.

The winged teen later found out that General Tarkin promised to deliver the details to the Chancellor while Ahsoka, who had memorized the other half of the details after the Jedi master died in her arms, promised to deliver the information to the council.

She also found out that Ahsoka and Anikin were sent right back out with Plo Koon on an assault mission.

—————

Mara walked the grounds of the temple. Somehow, she couldn’t get the Son’s words out of her head. She couldn’t get the fact that a chance at coming home was in her grasp.

_“So, you believe Anakin to be the Chosen One?” Mara asked the Son. On the way to what she could only describe as one of the Twin Towers from Lord of The Rings, he explained everything. They had just stepped through the doors. It’s a dark place, quite like him._

_“That is correct,” The Son admitted. He stepped in front of her with his hands put together behind him. The door closed._

_“And that he, or at least, the Chosen One will be able to bring balance to the universe?” She wanted clarification._

_“Yes,” he stated as he turned around to face her. “We want to test if he is in fact the Chosen One. Now, tell me. What do you want?” Just as the question was asked, a table became lit. A lime green crystal ball stood in its center. He allowed her to go towards it first before joining her. “It is my understanding that you left your friends behind before ending up with them, right?”_

_Mara looked at him dead in the eyes. “How would you know of such things?”_

_“My dear, my family and I are quite strong with the force,” he explained. “Now,” his hand covered the crystal ball for a second before revealing Earth, and her friends. Gyr’s eyes widened. “I could bring you back to them.” The girl leaned in closely to see who he’s showing is indeed her friends. “Or,” he paused. “I could take the very reasons for your suffering away.”_

_That made Mara’s attention tear away from the ball to him. “My wings?” she asked quietly._

_“And more.” He walked away from the table a couple of steps. “How would you like your natural hair color to be black instead of white?”_

_She looked down and touched her hair which instantly began to turn white. Due to her gene’s being infused with a Gyrfalcon’s her natural hair became white. The first chance she got, she dyed her hair and eyebrows black._

_All of this seemed too good to be true. “How?” she asked him as he paced around her. “How can you promise such things?”_

_“My dear, I can return all to normal,” he stepped closer, behind her. “All you have to do is say yes.” He walked past her back to the table and sat in a chair that just now appeared._

_“I-,” she began to say before really thinking it over. “I will need a few moments to think.” She looked away._

_“Very well.” He stood up. “Forgive me, for I must away. Feel free to look through the glass ball. Just speak your desire, and you shall see it.” He took a few paces before stopping and saying, “Oh, and do me a favor and stay here, won’t you? I quite like your company.” With that, he left, and Mara was left to roam the castle alone._

_Once finding a room to sleep in, she went in, although her mind wouldn’t let her fall into slumber, her eyes didn’t want to open._

That isn’t the only thing that bugged her. In remembrance of that, she touched her hair. She’s been able to dye her hair color her black again, despite Ahsoka’s protests saying that she looked good with that color of hair. Although, Mara’s never liked it, and she didn’t plan to start.

Mara went back to her room to practice her new ability. One that she discovered in the Son’s tower. The Gyrfalcon knows that Max and her flock get new abilities all the time, so she guessed it was normal.

_When she caught up with the Son, she was too late. Mara found Ahsoka lying down almost lifeless in the dungeon. The Son stood watching her._

_“What have you done?” Her voice was fearful, yet leaves with poison._

_He turned his face to her, saying, “What I should have done to you.”_

_All of a sudden, Ahsoka got up, but something was different. Her skin looked darker, and cracked._

_“Ahsoka?” Mara’s voice was gentle. She received no answer._

_“I am forbidden from ever harming you,” the Son stated. “But that does not mean that she isn’t.”_

_“What?” Mara questioned him._

_“You heard him,” Ahsoka states. Her voice seemed different now. Darker. She ignited her blades._

_Mara used her telekinesis to trap her in place. It seemed to be working, but the human was straining. “I’m so sorry, Ahsoka,” she said before releasing a sonic cry. The girl could tell that the other wanted desperately to cover her ears, but Mara wasn’t letting her. If she keeps this up, then the Togruta’s ears will start to bleed and then she’ll die. Gyr feels as if she couldn’t live with herself if she did that to her, but mayhaps it is what has to be done._

_All of a sudden, the Padawan breaks free of the science experiment’s telekinesis, and force pushes her backwards, sending her into the wall. Mara cried out in pain as her wings were damaged._

_Ahsoka kept pushing her further into the wall. The girl couldn’t move. She thought that she might die here._

_That is, until the Son stopped her by putting a hand up, open palmed. “Stop. We shall deal with her later. For now, go outside and distract the Jedi that are undoubtedly here.” The Togruta did as asked. “We’ll deal with her later.”_

_Before they left, the Son looked as if he was checking her out, like a pervert. Mara immediately felt disgusted. She tried and tried to break out of the wall, but she couldn’t. She wished, and wished for her body to move, for someone to save her. Wishing will do nothing, she realizes._

_There isn’t a way to brutishly break out of the cement, or whatever strong material this was. All she has to do is relax. Breath. Just move the space around you. The teen closer her eyes in order to focus more. She pictured the surrounding surface in her mind and attempted to move it without lifting a finger to control her power._

_Mara’s eyes opened suddenly. She was moving out of the wall, but not in a way she expected. The surface around seemed to liquify. Due to the contents of its solid form, the liquid flowed at a slow pace. Once the girl managed to get her wings free, she flapped them slightly to get out of the sludge. It was then Mara realized that her body still needs to heal. She ended up limping down the corridors until she could feel better._

Alas, it all worked out in the end in some strange way. Ahsoka came back to life, and all of the Family died. Mara knew that she vowed to never return, but the Son’s words sounded too good to be true. 

Mara picked up a block from the cathedral that she took and liquified it.

 _“If they ever find out about the matter manipulation ability, they would freak out,”_ she thought.

The teen made it flow like water through an invisible river about her room. It came towards her before something came to mind. The liquid turned back into a solid, its watery shape turned to that of crisscrossing stalactites. The journey back was not all that pleasant.

_They were on Skywalker’s ship. Ahsoka was out of the medbay. A full day in the bacta tank got her on her feet._

_When the Togruta went past Mara’s room, she felt an overwhelming sadness. Not knowing what lies ahead, she knocked on the door. Wordlessly, she was allowed in and greeted the sight of Mara hunched over holding her head in thought. Her wings were hugging her. Tears looked like they could form._

_“Mara?” Ahsoka questioned, stepping forward. Mara’s eyes darted to her friend’s._

_“Yeah?” The winged human answered._

_“Are you okay?” The Togruta asked, unsure on how to proceed._

_“Yeah,” Mara stated. No physical or mental change appeared. “I’m fine.”_

_“A-are you sure?” The Padawan asked, daring to step closer._

_“Yes.” The girl’s voice was firm, her form became straight._

_“Oh-okay.” With that, Ahsoka left the room. As she exited, both Kenobi and Skywalker walked past. The door shut. Wanting to hear what they were saying, Mara closed her eyes and listened to them. It’s times like these when she’s thankful to have super hearing._

_“Hey snips. You alright?” Anakin asked his Padawan._

_“Yeah,” she replied, “But, I don’t think Mara is.”_

_Kenobi spoke, “Well, I am sensing that she is upset.”_

_“Funny,” Ahsoka told them. “She didn’t say that. She said everything was fine, even when it clearly wasn’t, and it’s scaring me. That look in her eyes…” she trailed off._

_“Yes,” Kenobi said. Mara heard their feet start to move. “Well, mayhaps, she doesn’t wish to share her troubles.”_

_They then walked off. Mara didn’t bother listening to anything else._

_Come morning, the girl wandered over into the cafeteria. As her eyes wandered the room, she saw Tano come up to her. Mara brushes past her, saying, “I still don’t want to tell you.”_

_The Padawan followed, saying, “But something was wrong.”_

_The girl stopped before telling her, “Yes.” resuming her steps._

_“I-I just want to know if you’re okay.”_

_“Then I’m okay,” Mara said, turning back around to face her briefly as she walked._

_“You’re just saying that aren’t you?” Ahsoka questioned, following her._

_They then walked over to where both Jedi knights sat._

_Mara sighed. “You’re never going to let that go are you?” The Padawan shook her head. “Well then, too bad,” the winged human smiled. “You’re just going to have to wait.”_

_Ahsoka huffed. The meal was eaten in silence for all four of them._

_Mara tried not to let her mind wander. It did that on its own. The Jedi now see what Ahsoka meant by having that look in her eyes. A look of near blankness. Her shield. The teen made her expression that way so that she wouldn’t appear to be in despair. Yet she was. The Jedi could probably see right through her mask._

  
  


Mara might never tell Ahsoka, as she probably wouldn’t get it. Yet, on Mandalore, she did offer her ears.

_“You know, you never told any of us what it was like for you on your home planet,” Ahsoka pointed out. She sat on the bed while Mara leaned against the wall._

_“And if I can, I would like to keep it that way. It isn’t something I would enjoy speaking of, or even want to. All of my nightmares are from my,” she used air quotes, “Childhood.”_

_“You don’t have to keep the pain inside. Let me help you.” The Togruta offered as she got off the bed and stepped towards her friend. Mara moves away from the wall._

_“Ahsoka,” the human girl said, hugging her arms. “My scars run deep. The mental and physical ones.”_

_“And that’s okay.”_

_Mara then turned to the door. “Good night, Ahsoka.”_

_“Good night,” the Togruta stated as her friend went back to her room._

That was months ago, and Mara still hasn’t spilled the tea. Maybe she should. It could be a nice change of pace. Does she want to? Hell no. But does she want to make amends with Ahsoka? Yes. It’s not like telling her would really solve anything. Wait, no, it most likely would. She owes her that much. Maybe when she comes back from her assault on whatever the hell planet it was.

—————

It’s been a few days. Mara has told the younglings all of the Harry Potter stories. Her next one would have been the tale of Mulan if word of Skywalker’s return hadn’t hit her ears so quickly.

Skywalker, Plo Koon and the troops have returned, but not Ahsoka.

Concern was clear on Mara’s face as she asked, “What happened?”

Anakin hesitates before saying, “We don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” The teen parroted.

“She disappeared. I’m going to find her.”

He went off without another word. Mara and Plo Koon decided to follow. They found him in a room which had a holographic map of the universe.

“What is Ahsoka’s strength?” Plo Koon questioned Anakin. Mara followed close behind as the former stepped into the room.”

“She is fearless,” Anakin stated.

“That can also be a weakness.” Plo crossed to the other side of the room. Mara halted at the steps. “Is she a worthy apprentice?”

“No one has her kind of determination.”

“Except you.”

“I’ll find her.”

Plo turned to face the man. “This may not be within your power.”

Anakin finally turned behind him to face the Jedi Master. “Whatever you’re trying to say, Master Plo, just say it.”

He left the room as he stated, “I am suggesting that perhaps, if you have trained her well, she shall take care of herself and find her way back to you.” With that, he left.

“If I may, Skywalker,” Mara spoke up, turning his attention from the hologram. “Mayhaps… she has been taken.” Her voice was soft, yet firm. “I do not think that lightly, but if she wasn’t found by Rex, then that is the only solution I am seeing. Whether or not she was taken by the Separatists is unclear.”

“You think that-“ Anakin tried to say.

“Not lightly, of course, but we cannot discard it.” She then remembered the younglings. “I need to get back to the younglings. If they aren’t in training, they’re awaiting my next story.”

When she arrived back to the room, she saw that no one was there. “So, I see that they’ve gone to train. No matter. I shall wait.”

—————

Mara has just finished going over the events of Mulan with the younglings when Anakin ran into the room. “A transport ship just landed. Ahsoka’s on it.”

“Are you sure?” Mara asked as she stood.

“Yeah,” he said before sprinting off.

“Alright,” Mara sighed. “That concludes our story telling for the day.” The whines of the younglings reached her ears as she sprinted to the landing dock.

When she got there, Skyguy had already beaten her to the Togruta.

“Hey,” Mara greeted.

“Hey,” Ahsoka echoed. Silence seemed to engulf them. “I’m sorry.” Mara almost tilted her head in confusion. “Being out there made me think things over. I’ll let it go.”

Her confusion changed to shock. “Y-you will?”

“Yes.”

Mara smiled softly as the three of them, (counting Anakin) walked back into the temple.


	9. Zygerria

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have somehow managed to condense three episodes of the series into one chapter. How? I’m not sure.

“So, let me get this straight,” Mara stated. “You want me to come with you, Skyguy, and ginger-head to go with _you_ to _your_ home planet on a mission?”

“Well, yeah. I mean I really don’t know my own planet, my own people, and it would be nice to have friends around,” Ahsoka stated.

“Alright, Let’s go.”

—————

Once they got there, they traveled on Speeders. (Something that Kit Fisto taught Mara how to ride while Ahsoka was away on one of her missions.) Mara didn’t particularly like this kind of vehicle, but hey, whatever she has to do to keep her secret.

All of a sudden, biker droids intercepted them. Anakin ordered the clones to tighten up and form on him.

They clashed head-to-head with the clankers. The Jedi ignited their swords and deflected the blaster bolts. Meanwhile Mara used her telekinetic abilities to push them right back at the droids. More of them appeared behind the group. The clones and Ahsoka took them down easily.

“We’re all clear, master,” she said.

They came around the corner, already firing bolts at the small droid blockade. The blasts took care of the droids while a clone, armed with a bazooka and Ahsoka, armed with a thermal detonator, took down the tanks.

The group stopped the speeders. 

“Captain, have your men secure the area,” Kenobi ordered.

———

In about thirty minutes, they managed to secure an area almost surrounding the entire town. Cody came back with a message from the Separatists leader of this world. His name is D’nar.

He had a bat-like appearance and asked for Kenobi to head for the tower for terms of surrender. According to Anakin, it was a Zygerian. Also according to Skywalker, his kind are slavers scum.

Mara sighed as she deducted that he was most likely once a slave himself. 

Kenobi told Mara to hang around the building as he went up. She walked with him and only stopped when he entered. She circled around a low level of building, flying at what must have been fifteen feet in the air. She hasn’t flown all week and wanted to stretch her wings.

Her commlink beeped before Kenobi’s conversation with the bat-like creature became known to them. “No, you are wrong, Jedi,” D’nar stated.

“Am I?” Kenobi questioned. “You’re no doubt aware your droid forces have been destroyed and you are surrounded. Do the honorable thing and give up now, D’Nar. I promise you’ll receive fair treatment.”

Mara chose to fly higher to the top as the Zygerian replied, “You’ve broken through my defenses. You think you’ve won. Think again. I have planted bombs all over the city. No one will survive. Now, surrender.”

“If you’re not bluffing, then I must concede, but you’ll have to make considerations. First, you release the colonists.”

“Here is my counter offer.”

All of a sudden, one of the buildings exploded. Mara hovered in the air, her face full of concern. She then flew down to the clones, helping the medics take care of the wounded. One of the clones had a guy with a large piece of shrapnel going through his leg. Mara pulled it out while a medic put a splint on his leg. She paid half attention to the men and half attention to Kenobi’s conversation.

She raced to the tower after seeing a droid explode in the sky. A few seconds later, she saw a small ship fly off. The Sepritest must have gotten away. She flew after it and tried to telekinetically hold it in place.

The girl then noticed Skywalker and Tano jump onto it and destroy one of its wings. They then made their way inside through the hanger door. After seeing a large creature fall to its death, the winged human decided to check things out.

Anakin was holding on for dear life at the end of the hangar door. Mara helped him up. “So where’s Ahsoka?”

“I told her to go stabilize the ship while I handled…” he looked outside in order to mention the creature that had previously fallen. “That.” 

—————

Later, they held a meeting with the council. The four of them (Skywalker, Kenobi, Tano and Gyr) , as well as Skywalker’s admiral, attended via hologram. He told them that the Togruta weren't even on the planet. They simply vanished.

“Vanished? That’s impossible. Those are my people,” Ahsoka stated.

“That can only mean...” Mara muttered, careful not to upset Ahsoka.

“Troubling the return of the Zygerian,” Yoda stated.

“It is possible they mean to use Dooku to rebuild their slaver empire,” Plo Koon theorized.

“We _cannot_ allow that, master,” Anakin stated.

“Agree I do,” said Yoda. “But first, find the colonists, you must. In great danger they are.”

“What is it, master?” Plo Koon questioned Yoda.

“Sense, I do, a darker hand in their mystery. Slavery. A great tool it is, for the rise of the Sith.”

—————

In the end, the council tasked Skywalker and Kenobi with going to Zygerria to rescue the captured Togrutas. Mara volunteered to help.

The Jedi, along with Mara, took with Rex them. They arrived there on the ship D’nar had been using. “It looks like Zygerria’s a popular place these days,” Anakin quipped. A long stretch of ships formed a line to get into the planet.

“Whatever is happening is attracting plenty of high-class scum,” Obi-wan noted.

The strategy that they were going with was that Mara and Ahsoka were both going to act as slaves to Anakin and Obi-wan. This was a strategy that Ahsoka did not agree with. They had all changed their clothes so as not to look like Jedi and a clone.

————

The three men exited the ship while the two teen girls trailed behind. R2 strolled in the middle of them.

“Remind me why I’m the one playing the part of the slave,” Ahsoka stated, picking at the fabric that covered almost every inch of her body.

“Tried it once, wasn’t any good at it,” Anakin responded. “Besides, the role of master comes easily to me.” That was stated with a smug smile.

“Well, this time, try to be convincing,” Ahsoka quipped. She then noticed Mara’s calm state. The girl was in similar fabric, but it had a hood which could be removed. Despite her clothing being similar to Ahsoka, she was not to play the part of a slave. “Mara, you don’t seem all that bothered by any of this,” Ahsoka stated.

“Eh, you’ve been in a situation like this once, you’ve been in it a thousand times,” she said quickly, which almost worried the Togruta. Mara wasn’t just speaking about The School that she grew up in, she meant all the missions she had to do in which she was bought by her target and then killed him.

“Amen to that,” Anakin stated.

“Although, I do very much dislike that I’m covered in such thick fabric. My wings will feel tortured after walking around in this all day.”

“Would you rather the Zygerrian people find out about your extra appendages and sell you to the highest bidder?” Kenobi questioned.

“That has already happened to me once, believe me when I say I don’t intend to ever again.” the winged human then thought, _“If I do, then I will simply kill them with my sonic cry like I’ve done with all the others.”_

They entered the city and were met with a street market. A group of Twi’lek were being inspected by someone. In fact, they seemed to be the most common of slaves captured.

“How can a civilization so advanced still practice slavery?” Ahsoka questioned as they walked through the dirt street.

“It makes them wealthy and powerful at the expense of others,” Anakin answered with a malice laced voice. “Before the Hutts bought my mother, she was sold in a market just like this.”

Mara interjected, “Think of it this way, Ahsoka. The countries on my planet have abolished slavery. However, people are still kidnapped and sold to the baddest and the bitter. It’s all about profit and power. Nothing else matters.”

In front of them was another group of captured Twi'lek before Mara could say anything, Ahsoka went to his rescue. Anakin followed, diffusing the situation. After which, Rex, Obi-wan and Mara went a different direction. 

The two men wandered to the prison guard of the palace while Mara loitered about the market. If she wasn’t wearing such baggy fabric, the men probably wouldn’t leave her alone. She was walking down a rather shadowy stretch of the market when someone snatched her cloak.

She assumed him to be some snobby womanizing guy. She wore short leggings and a top with the sides and sleeves cut off. The shirt was fitted and large enough to hide the wings that were already pressed flat against her back. The teen turned around to face him. “Oi! Watch it!” she yelled. She then reached for her cloak, but he pulled away. She gave him a serious look. “Give it back.”

“Now why would a beautiful girl like yourself need a cloak as baggy as this?” The man questioned. He was a rather handsome and dashing sort of human who must have been in his twenties. He dressed like the equivalent of a trust-fund kid. His hair was a light ginger color. She tried to snatch the cloak again, but she was thwarted. “No, really, why?”

“I would prefer it if I wasn’t ogled at and kidnapped and sold,” Mara told him. 

“Makes sense,” the young man stated. “I happen to know a few people who actually would like to buy a girl like you, but I don’t think I’ll tell them.” His hold on the cloak relaxed and the fabric nearly touched the floor.

Mara stepped closer to him. “And why wouldn’t you?” She finally managed to snatch her cloak from his hands. 

He peered into her eyes and seemed to reach her soul before admitting. “You’re just so beautiful, I might have to keep you for myself.”

She stepped backwards. “Obviously, you’re not Zygerrian. What’s a human like you doing in a place like this, anyway?” She struck up conversation, but at a slight distance of five feet away from him.

“My uncle wants a slave and sent me to scope out the area,” he stated. “Apparently he trusts my judgement.” He stepped closer to her. “I could whisk your beautiful self away and keep you all to myself as my own personal slave, but something tells me that you’d be better as an ally, rather than a slave.”

“Hmm, well, see you around, stranger.” she left him in the dark alley. Before she stepped into the light, she put her cloak back on.

Soon, she received a transmission from Rex to meet her at a rendezvous point. An outlook over the city. It wasn’t far from where she was currently and seemed to be empty. She spotted the disguised clone sitting on the back of a giant flying lizard.

“Where’s Kenobi?” Mara asked as she walked up to Rex. He stepped down from his position on the saddle.

“He got captured. We were trying to save the governor,” he replied.

She could only deduce that he meant the governor of the Togruta. “I see. The auction is in a few hours. I’d be surprised if Anakin and Ahsoka weren’t somehow already there. Should we start heading over there?” 

“What about Obi-wan?” The two of them walked to their lizard friend.

“I’d say it’s a fifty-fifty chance that he’ll be there.”

—————

The two of them made it just in time. The bidder started the auction and happened to mention there were 50,000 Togruta from Kuros who don’t know how to fight. Rex and Mara made eye contact with Anakin who stood with the queen Zygerrian and Ahsoka. Her cloak was nowhere to be seen.

“You know, I didn’t expect you to be here of all places,” came a voice. Mara turned to her left to find the ginger haired twenty-something year old man she ran into earlier.

“Well, there’s nothing wrong in viewing, now is there?” She responded.

“No,” the man considered. “But this environment does make it easier for me to kidnap you, if I manage to corner you.” Mara but back a smile, knowing that would never happen.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Rex snarled. “She’s with me.”

“And who might you be?” The rich man inquired.

“Just a man,” Rex stated. He placed his hand on the blaster that rested on his hip. “We wouldn’t want any casualties, now would we? Especially in a place such as this.”

“Unfortunately, you are correct,” the rich man turned to view the slaves that were to be auctioned off.

“Thanks,” Mara whispered to Rex.

The queen got up from her chair and stated in a voice that echoed through the building via loudspeakers. “Before we begin the auction, I would like to welcome a most special guest. Obi-wan Kenobi. Jedi Knight.” She gestured to a door which opened, revealing the Jedi walking forward in chains.

Rex and Mara shared a look as the crowd jeered. 

“My friends, my good friends,” the queen resumed her speech. “Do not fear the Jedi. They are no different from others we have forced into submission. For they have forsaken their ideals to serve a corrupt senate. Every Jedi has become a slave to the Republic. The Jedi order is weak, and we will help break it.” She then handed Anakin a light whip. The crowd cheered as he wordlessly took it and took the steps down to the arena. 

As Anakin stepped up to the stage, one of the guards kicked Kenobi to his knees. Skywalker looked calm as people from the crowd yelled, “Whip the Jedi!” 

Mara didn’t need to use her heightened senses to know what he was going to do.

“Prove to me that you are a slaver,” the queen ordered Skywalker. “Swing that whip or die beside him.”

The brunette looked behind him and locked eyes with Rex who nodded. He then looked at Mara who did the same. Ahsoka nodded as well.

“You leave me no choice, highness,” Anakin projected. He waved his hand at R2 before using the light whip to disarm one of the guards while Kenobi body-slammed the same one. Both of their lightsabers shot out at them. They caught the weapons with ease.

“Guards! Subdue them!” The Queen ordered, but the Jedi reflected every blaster bolt.

“Well, I have to say, I wasn’t expecting that,” the young man standing beside Mara stated.

“Really?” Mara asked him. She then smiled before punching him in the jaw, making him step backwards. Rex took care of the other guards. The two of them split up as more guards filtered in.

One way or another, Rex ended up down in the arena while Mara took down most of the guards on her level. Seeing as her three companions were now knocked out, she decided to stir up trouble before freaking and not getting captured. At least Anakin was still fighting.

She went down to the stage saying, “Cover your ears, Skyguy.” She didn’t look to see if he had before unleashing her sonic cry among the guards. Some of them collapsed. Mara could smell the blood that trickled out of their ears. She froze a light whip that came her way and ripped it right out of its owner. She used it against them, knocking them out. 

She then took off her cloak and started flying. She’s out of range from their whips now. But then, she glanced down and saw that Anakin had become unconscious.

All of a sudden, there was a shooting pain in her neck. Her vision blackened and all she felt was the air against her feathers.

—————

She woke up in a large room. The first thing she felt was the softness of a mattress and silky sheets. Remembering what had happened previously, she shot up.

“I was wondering when you would wake,” said a familiar voice. She turned to find that it was the man who’s been stalking her for the past few hours.

“So, I take it you reconsidered your original thoughts and bought me?” Mara questioned the ginger-haired man.

“Why yes,” he replied and got off his chair. “I couldn’t let any of those other scoundrels have you. That is the very reason a beautiful creature like yourself is lying in very expensive bedding.” He stepped closer to her.

“Do you treat all of your slaves like this?” She moved to get up, but then noticed the chain that held her wrist to the bedpost. Her eyes widened as she stared at the metal. She swallowed, and noticed that a collar had been placed around her neck. It felt more like a choker necklace than a collar, but she knew it for what it truly was. She touched her ear to find that a new device had placed itself. It seemed lighter and didn’t involve a necklace for her voice. Her glance hardened to a glare as the man stepped closer.

“Relax, it was just a precaution.” The man raised his hands as if to show it was okay. His left hand held a key. “And I noticed your translating device was a little… low tech, so I bought you a new one and transferred all the data.”

After a little while, she said, “Thanks… I guess.”

His eyes peered into her soul again. “You know, I don’t know whether I should take you right here and now or if I should showboat you at some fancy party.”

“Well, it appears I have no say in the matter,” Mara stated softly as the man stepped even closer. “I am your slave now, after all. And yet, I do not know your name.”

“Right,” the man breathed out a smile. “How silly of me. My name is Micah Miranda.

“How alliterative,” she remarked.

“You can call me whatever you want. And what’s yours?”

“Inara,” she lied.

“Such a beautiful name for a beautiful girl.”

“Would you normally ask the slaves their names?”

“Yes. They still have an identity after all, even if it is now just almost nothing.”

“I see.”

He was now in her strike zone. She liquified the metal chain and fashioned it into a spear. Just as she was about to swing her weapon, she felt a powerful shock come from the collar around her neck. She dropped the spear and almost fell backwards. She would have crashed onto the bed if Micah hadn’t grabbed onto her wrist and waist. Angered, she released her sonic cry. He released her and stumbled backwards, covering his ears. The arms that held her up were no longer there to keep her stable, so she too fell. Before she could steady herself she felt the shock of the color again.

“I would advise against that,” Miranda stated. She pushed him and he let go with a slight chuckle. He then turned towards the door. “Come. I still have errands to run.”

Wordlessly, she followed and tucked her wings back underneath her shirt.

As they walked through the halls, he began to talk. “Since you can fight, I’m making you my bodyguard.”

She yielded no response. _“Where’s my iPod?”_ She questioned in her mind before remembering, _“Oh, that’s right. It’s back at the temple. I wonder where the others are.”_

“Worried about your friends?” Micah inquired. She chose to study the walls they walked past instead of answering. “Don’t. If I’m lucky, I can buy that Togruta from the Zygerrian. I have the slightest inclination that the two of you know each other.”

“Your inclination would be correct.”

“Good.” They turned right and went down a flight of stairs. At the end of which was another hallway that led to a foyer and the front door. A guard opened the door for them and followed once they stepped through. The click of the door closing hit Mara’s eats soon after.

Mara was met with a busy street filled with street market vendors and people. Throughout the noise that came to her ears, she short circuited the collar so subtly she doubted that her new master even heard it. 

Micah stopped in front of a Zygerrian selling Twi’lek. Mara kept her head down as her new master spoke with the Zygerrian. It only lifted when the bat-like creature asked how much Miranda was willing to pay for her.

“She’s not for sale,” Micah told him.

“Oh, well, surely we can work out a high enough price,” the slaver suggested.

“She’s mine,” the ginger-haired man said coldly.

“And who are you to make such claims?”

“Micah Miranda.”

The slaver seemed to be taken aback. Apparently, Micah’sfamily name holds meriton this planet. “Oh, apologies if I have offended you, sir.”

“Come on, Inara, we’re leaving.” Her master decided.

“Yes, sir,” she responded, putting her head back down again. That was the only title she felt like she could use without being fully submissive to their respective roles as master and slave. She stole a few glances at the Twi’lek. Their faces showed the look of despair.

When they went a few blocks further down the road, they stopped at another slaver who was also selling Twi’lek.

“Ah, Mr. Miranda, you’ve come back,” the slaver greeted. “And who is this lovely catch?”

“She’s not for sale,” Micah echoed. “And I’ve decided I will buy the siblings.” He handed the slaver a bag of coins before the Zygerrian nudged two blue Twi’lek to come forward. “Guard, take these two back to my estate,” Micah ordered.

“Of course, my lord,” the guard said before forcefully taking the Twi back to their new master’s home.

Mara noticed her master’s leaving and followed. “You want to know our names _and_ keep families together?” Mara questioned him. “Either you’re really kind, or very soft.”

“I suppose I am.”

She ignored his vague reply and started thinking places her friends could be. A few minutes later, Micah led her to a stable. He took out one of those flying lizards and said, “Get on.”

“I’d much rather fly with my wings, thanks.”

“Suit yourself,” he allowed.

The man took off on his lizard as Mara took to the skies in her wings. She stuck close to her master as he flew the giant lizard to the highlands. Despite the feel of oppression from the city, that all can be forgotten in the valleys and plains. She could fly for hours and never get tired of the view. She flew upside down and felt to some extent, free.

That is, until he called upon her. “Inara! don’t you ever get tired?”

“Not really,” she replied. Their voices were projected over the wind.

“Well, come here, give your wings a rest!” He called. After a moment of thinking she flew closer to him. He offered up the space in front of him and she took it. His arms went around her and held onto the reins. She was now, ineffectively boxed in. All of a sudden, she could feel his breath on the side of her neck. “I’d much rather exhaust you in the bedroom. But now that you’re in my arms…” he trailed off and started kissing the nape of her neck.

The strange sensation that she’s felt a hundred times before made her breathing deepen. However, she wondered about how well he could multitask. They were still up in the air. “Sir... I really don’t think-“

“Just relax,” he told her as his kisses became interchangeable with licks and bites. Her small gasps that she tried to contain only encouraged him.

When he began to grope her breasts, that’s where she drew the line. She elbowed him in the nose, making him fall off the lizard. As the beast flew to get him, the magnificent creature jumped off its back and flew back to the capital. Mara then dismantled the collar and let it fall to the ground.

She thought she’d fly over the castle and see if either Ahsoka or Anakin were to be found. Luckily, one was spotted running towards a ship. She landed right on the hatch with him. “You didn’t think you’d escape without me, huh?” She jokingly questioned them.

“Glad to see you’re still on the planet,” Anakin stated. “When the Queen told me she had sold you to a nobleman, I feared that you had already gone off planet.”

“Yes, well, apparently not.” She then moved to the cockpit to see who was flying this thing. It was Ahsoka. “No Rex or Kenobi?” She questioned.

The Togruta turned to her almost in surprise. “Oh! Mara, hey!” The Padawan then remembered the question. “Oh, right, uh, no.” She then turned her seat around and focused on leaving the atmosphere.

“They’re in the Kedavos system,” Skywalker projected from the cargo bay.

—————

They made their way to the slaver planet in the system. While still traveling in space, they contacted the Jedi Council and day informed them of their situation. The three of them were promised Plo Koon as back up. When they arrived, they were lucky to get out of the ship before it was blasted to bits by the landing dock’s security.

“So much for our ride home,” Anakin quipped as they ran up to the heavy entryway, avoiding the blaster bolts being fired by turrets.

“What now?” Ahsoka questioned in an irritated tone.

“We break in the old fashion way,” Skyguy told her as he slammed his saber right into the metal. He had almost finished cutting a hole when a video/audio transmission from Kenobi showed in the paneling to the side of the door.

“Anakin!” Said Kenobi. “I’m glad to see you, but I’m afraid our host feels otherwise.”

“Well, you can’t make everyone happy, master,” Anakin stated as he continued to cut into the door.

“They’re threatening to kill the slaves unless you surrender.”

“It’s good to see you’re always ready to negotiate, but I’ve had enough bargaining with slave drivers.”

“Anakin, you must realize, this is a fight you cannot win alone.”

“Who said I was alone?” The transmission ended.

A cruiser with fighter jets entered the atmosphere.

“I hope you told Master Plo not to blow up this facility while we’re still on it,” Ahsoka stated.

“Yeah, us and all the slaves,” her master stated as he force-pushed the hole in. The three of them, and R2 stepped in.

“We’ll need a bigger ship,” the Togruta noted.

They were immediately met with blaster bolts, which the Jedi deflected. Anakin then stabbed the Zygerrians with his saber. As they ran through the halls, the intercom went off.

“The controls are destroyed, Master Plo,” Kenobi stated over the comlink. “There’s nothing we can do from here.”

“I cannot move the cruiser in for the rescue operation until those enemy canons are destroyed,” Plo informed. 

“We’ll take care of those cannons. Just make sure that cruiser gets down here,” Anakin told them. “We’re running out of time!”

“I’m gonna go help my people,” Ahsoka decided. “I’ll see if I can buy us some time.”

“I’ll help,” Mara informed.

“Good luck you two,” Skywalker stated as they went down different paths.

The teens ran down a maze of hallways before coming up on a dead end. They searched for controls on the door and found them. Ahsoka managed to open the door and stop the floor from falling. They both leaped into the holding cell. As quickly as the door opened, it shut, boxing them in on all sides except underneath.

Mara flew to the open space before coming back. “We’ll need to have a transport, pick us up from here,” she said to the padawan.

“Or the cruiser,” Ahsoka theorized. “We’d need two transports or one transport going back and forth if we don’t use the cruiser.”

“But can a ship as large as that even get under here?”

“We’re all clear, Master Plo,” Anakin informed over the coms. He must have destroyed the cannons already. “Bring the cruiser down to the landing pad.”

“Cancel that order, master,” Ahsoka said. “There’s no way to get these people out of the holding cell and onto the landing platform, but Mara and I have an idea. We need to have the cruiser fly underneath the facility. We can escape onto the ship if Admiral Coburn can get in close enough.”

A minute later, clones with Jetpacks shot cable lines to the roof of the cell. The cruiser had made it.

“Okay everyone, we’re going to need to go in groups.” A few of the Togruta nodded and jumped onto the cable lines, sliding down onto the ship. One by one they jumped to the robes. Some of them fell, however, but Mara, and the clones caught them.

Once everyone was in the giant ship, they cleared it out of the way so that the fighter jets could destroy the facility.

Mara went straight to a secluded part of the ship where she can look up information. “Okay, Micah Miranda. Let’s see where you live.” 

—————

As it turns out, the Miranda family is a powerful Mafia group that deals in spice (drugs), slaves, and weapons. They mostly sell to outer rim planets. Their home operation on Ton Muund. Micah himself has been spotted on Bespin.

The door opened and a voice came, “That the man who bought you?” That was Anakin’s voice.

Hesitantly, she replied, “Yes.” She turned to find that it was just him. “Where’s the others?”

“Ahsoka is conversing with her people, the Jedi and captains are talking amongst themselves. When I saw you heading straight out of the hanger instead sticking around.”

She said nothing as she turned back around to study the information on her captor.

“Did-did he do anything to you?” The Jedi asked awkwardly.

“He tried to,” she admitted, facing him again, “but I punched him in the nose and escaped before he could,” she responded.

Skywalker smirked. “That’s good. That’s good… look, um, if you ever need or want to talk to anyone about it, or past experiences that you’ve hinted at, I’m there.”

She looked at him and smiled as he left. Mara might just take him up on his offer. The winged human sighed as she resumed her research into the one she escaped from.


	10. Friends, stories, and discussions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I’m kind of on a role with this one.  
> Also, this will be a bit shorter than the last one (probably because it only focuses on one episode).

It’s been a week since the slavery bust and the war tensions have been running very high. In an effort to ease those tensions, representatives from both sides agreed to meet on neutral ground. That ground being Mandalore. Ahsoka went with Padme Amidala as the Republic’s bodyguard.

Apparently, the discussion didn’t go too well and Ahsoka was currently on a ship with Lux Bonteri. Anakin gave Mara the comlink to the ship so that she could talk to her. Apparently, she’s taking the guy to Coruscant.

“Ahsoka? come in,” she said as she activated the hologram. She then noticed it was a man, most likely Lux, who was in the driver’s seat. “Where’s Ahsoka?”

“She’s taking a rest,” Lux told her.

“Right,” Mara stated, not believing him. “Do you really want to go to Coruscant?”

“Sure,” he said.

Her blank expression remained unchanged. “That wasn’t very believable. So, where are you really going?”

“Why should I tell you? Wouldn’t you tell your Jedi friends to pick us up?”

the corners of her mouth curled up. “So you’re going somewhere that would warrant that,” she gathered.

He tried to hide his surprise, but she saw the look in his eyes.

“I may be a friend of Ahsoka, but that doesn’t mean all Jedi are my friends. Believe me when I tell you your secret’s safe with me.”

“I can’t be so sure. Goodbye.” He ended the call and Mara sighed.

“Oh well,” she accepted. “Guess I’ll try Ahsoka again later.”

—————

A few minutes later, she found herself wandering over to the clone barracks. Luckily, Rex was there. “Ah, Mara,” he greeted. “What brings you over here?”

“I just came to check on you. Going through what we have, especially something like yours, and coming out of it, isn’t easy.”

“Thank you for your concern, Mara, but I’m fine,” he told her.

“Alright then. I heard that you saved Kenobi’s ass. How’d you manage that?” She noticed that other clone troopers were now listening to their conversation.

“Well as you know, we were brought to the warden’s command center, as you, and General Skywalker, and Commander Tano were working on the cannons and freeing the Togruta, General Kenobi was about to have his ass handed to him by the warden after he sardonically reprimands him, secure in the knowledge that a Jedi cannot kill an unarmed man. Unfortunately for him, he fails to take me into account and at an implicit nod from the General, I say cooly, ‘I’m no jedi’ and I hurled a guard's electrostaff with such force that it goes right through the keeper's fat body and out the back of his chair which then goes out of control and splatters him against a console, killing him.”

Mara smirked and tried to stifle a laugh. “Dramatic much?”

“Why don’t you tell us a story?” one of the clones suggested. “I’ve heard from the Jedi that you have some pretty good stories.”

She turned to him asking with a slight smile and a projected voice, “What sort of story would you like to hear?”

“How about one that doesn’t involve fighting?” Another clone suggested.

“Has the war taken a toll?” Mara questioned him with sincerity.

“On him, yes,” Rex muttered.

“Alright,” she decides. “I will not tell you a war story.” She paced around twice before an idea came to her. “I’ve got it.” She faced them with open and slightly outstretched arms. “I am going to tell you a story called The Finest hours, about a man named Bernard Webber, nicknamed Bernie.” She began to pace around the room as she recounted the tale. 

“He was a crewman at a Coast Guard in Station Chatham. Now, the Coast Guard on my planet was a branch of the United States armed forces, under the Department of Transportation. They are responsible for the enforcement of maritime law and for the protection of life and property at sea. In time of war, or at the direction of the president, the Coast Guard serves as part of the US Navy. Anyway, Bernie served in Chatham in a town called Cap Code. He fell in love with a girl named Miriam. _She_ asked him to marry her. The two plan to marry on April 16, but in accordance with Coast Guard regulations, Bernie must seek permission from the station's commanding officer, Daniel Cluff, although it is usually just a formality. 

“On the day he was due to ask permission, February 18, 1952, two separate oil tankers, uhh, ships designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products, split in half because of the stormiest sea weather you could ever imagine. One of them, the crew of the SS Fort Mercer, is already being attempted to be rescued by a separate Coast guard Station not far from Cape Cod, but the other one, the SS Pendleton has yet to receive any help. Bernie’s captain sends him out in a motor lifeboat CG 36500. A boat designed to only carry twelve people. That little detail is important later, gentlemen. Some people did not want to go out in that storm. It was one of the craziest storms in history. They thought they could never make it in a boat like that. However three brave men volunteered to join Bernie on the rescue mission.

“Meanwhile, not knowing if anyone was coming to rescue them, seeing as their transmitter was initially broken, Pendleton's engineer, uh, Ray Sybert, as the surviving senior officer, organizes the surviving seamen to steer the sinking stern of the tanker onto a submerged reef, where it can lodge until rescuers arrive. The ship’s engineer was in charge because the captain went down with the other half of the Tanker, which by now iiiiis sunk in the water by the forty to sixty feet tall waves. Some of the crew thought they were going to die before they ever got the tanker beached on a reef. So, they were about to escape via lifeboats, but Sybert knowing that that was a horrible idea, radically cuts the ropes that held one of the lifeboats over the water. It landed in the water, sure, but it was immediately crushed by the waves and the hull of the ship.

“When Miriam, remember Miriam? When she hears that Bernie is leading the rescue effort, she, like a number of townspeople, thinks this is a suicide mission. Few people in Chatham trust Cluff, believing he could not possibly be capable of doing his job because he is not from the area. She drives to the station, asking to see the captain. One of the coast guards tries to tell her off, saying that the normal girls don't do this kind of thing. She marched to the captain’s off demanding that Cluff call Bernie back. She was like a broken record.” Mara imitated a boston accent saying, “Please call them back. Please call them back. Please call them back. Cluff refuses, and brusquely orders Miriam out. She leaves her coat behind and, because of the snow, she accidentally gets her vehicle stuck. The wife of a dead sailor finds her and brings her to her house for a coat and a warm beverage before the wife’s brother tows Miriam’s vehicle out of the snow.

“Bernie decides to cut the transmission before crossing this thing called the bar. Now,” she paused, trying to remember how to describe it. “Between Chatham Harbor and the open sea lies a bar, a series of shoals, naturally submerged ridges, banks, or bars that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. The bar, as they called it, is very dangerous even in good weather. Bernie failed to get over it once in a rescue mission some years ago.”

“What makes him think he’ll make it over this time?” one of the clone troopers called out.

“Because he has to. Otherwise thirty two people would die at sea,” she told him. A chorus of oh’s came from other troopers. “I told you that the set number of people that can fit on that boat was important, guys. 

“Anyway, Bernie bursts off his engine to ride each approaching wave before it breaks as he pilots _CG 36500_ across the bar. Some of those waves launched him into the air. Sometimes, the engine of the boat died out. The gigantic waves would roll the boat so far over that the single 90-horsepower gasoline engine would die out because it would lose its prime. One of the rescuers would then have to crawl into the cramped engine compartment to restart it, leaving him with bad burns and bruises. Although they make it over the bar, they lose their compass.

“Bernie steers _CG 36500_ to the stricken tanker. The crew cheers, knowing that they’ve been saved. They start using a rope ladder to lower themselves down to the twelve person boat. All except one makes it. That one, accidentally let go of the rope when a giant wave crashed into the tanker. He was killed by the ship’s own turbines.

“Bernie manages to fit thirty one people on a twelve person boat for one trip. If he did two trips, it would have meant death by waves for the other half of people who went on board. The stern of _Pendleton_ begins sinking more rapidly during the rescue and goes down shortly after the last crewman comes aboard Bernie's boat. Relying on his knowledge of the coast and prevailing winds in place of his compass, Bernie steers _CG 36500_ toward home—a task made more difficult as Chatham loses power. Not even the lighthouse was working. He steers through the darkness by feeling.

“Miriam and the other townspeople drive to the pier, awaiting the rescue mission’s safe return. Miriam is the only person who initially keeps her vehicle’s lights on in hopes of helping guide Bernie to the pier. The other town’s folk soon follow suit and turn on their headlights. After what felt like an eternity of waiting, the people, silent with anticipation, erupt in celebration.”

“What about the other tanker?” a clone asked.

“38 men from that were eventually rescued and five lost their lives, although they had to take two or more trips to and from the other coast guard station.”

“That’s quite the story you got there, Mara,” Rex stated. “You seem to remember a lot of it. Was it a popular story where you’re from?”

“Yes, in fact, it was a real event and was hailed as the Eastern Coast Guard’s most daring rescue in History. Yes, and for their heroic efforts, the four-man crew of the motor lifeboat, were each awarded the Coast Guard's Gold Lifesaving Medal. So how’s that for a story that doesn’t involve war?” 

The clones cheered, making her smile.

—————

It’s the next day. Mara had just finished telling the younglings a story called Witch & Wizard. A story about secrets, oppression, and magic. Of course, she had to tell them that these magic users were different from the Night Sisters. A new younglings has joined them too. A boy called Caleb Dume.

When Adi Gallia came to collect the children for more of their learning, Kenobi accompanied her. He stayed behind while she took the children.

“How was your talk with Ahsoka?” Kenobi questioned. He sat on one of the chairs.

“It went fine. If you’ve already spoken to Anakin, you’ll know that Lux Bonteri is with her,” she informed the Jedi.

“Lux Bonteri?” So he didn’t know. “The son of Senator Bonteri?”

Mara made a face, signifying that she didn’t know who that was. “Yes, it would appear so.” He smiled slightly before studying her face.

“Are you alright?”

She avoided his eyes for a moment, saying, “Yes.”

“I find that hard to believe. What’s going on?”

“I… guess… my whole experience on Zygerria brought back memories.” This was not entirely false. Memories of her target’s treatment of her after she had been bought by them and before she murdered them, and some of her own handler’s treatment of her had crept their way out of her vault and into the front of her mind. 

“I thought it might. Especially when you didn’t stick around the hanger, at all.”

“So, you noticed too. Why didn’t you follow me like Anakin did?”

“I thought that Anakin would talk to you, and it seems he did.”

Mara crosses her legs in her chair. “How about you, huh? How was your experience?”

Knowing what she meant he replied, “Well, it certainly was not pleasant... It was a work camp, Mara.”

“I see. Y’know, I heard from Rex that he killed the overseer, so that you didn’t half to.”

“He did.”

“So then… who’s the more okay one? The man who was put in a work camp? Or the girl who grew up in captivity, only to escape it for a time before being recaptured?” She got up from her chair, only stopping when the Jedi spoke.

“Y-you grew up in captivity?”

She now stood in the center of the room, not looking back and simply replied, “Yes,” before completely exiting the room.

—————

A few hours later, Mara was playing with a metal block—liquefying it and turning it into abstract shapes—when she received a message from Anakin to go to the senate building.

When she arrived she easily found the senator as well as both Anakin and Kenobi. They both stood, leaning against the walls of the room while Padme sat at her desk. “What is this?” is Mara’s first question.

“I want to help you regain your freedom,” Amidala tated.

“Y-” she was going to say something else, but then decided against it. “You’re too kind.” She goes to sit down in one of the chairs across from the Senator’s desk.

The Naboo Senator merely smiled before asking, “Do you know the name of the man who bought you?”

“Micah Miranda,” Mara stated without hesitation.

Her eyes widened slightly. “Are you sure?”

“Quite.”

“Did he do anything to you?”

“Pretty sure he tried to bed me. I escaped before he could get very far.”

“How long were you in his custody?”

“That is such a soft word,” Mara noted. “Over a day at most. I think I almost killed him. Pushed him off of one of those Zygerrian gliding lizards. The bloody thing went back for him. Y’know, if I’m going off of his character, he will want me back. He won’t sell me to you, and he will never free me.”

—————

Trying to take her mind off the fact that she will always belong to a man she low key disgusted, Mara has tried to contact Tano. For four of her tries, no one picked up. Neither the Togruta nor the human, nor even the droid were on board. She’s tried Ahsoka for the fifth time now, and luckily for her, she answered.

“Heyyyy,” she greeted. “I see you’ve finally regained control of the ship. Are you heading back to Coruscant now?”

“You know what Lux was up to didn’t you?” Ahsoka questioned.

“Well, I did call when he was driving.”

“You did?” Here comes the surprise. “Why didn’t you call him in?”

“Why should I have?”

“Mara-“

“If he doesn’t want to be a part of the republic, then he doesn’t want to be part of the republic. It’s as simple as that.”

“I know but…”

“Your heart is confused, isn’t it?”

“Mara, what do you mean by that?”

“Oh, nevermind. I’ll see you when you get back.” She ended the holocall. As she walked back to her room, she thought, _“Oh dear, Ahsoka’s got a crush and she doesn’t even know it._ ” Mara smiled to herself. Even though she knows it’s against the Jedi code to be in love due to attachment reasons, she will make their relationship work


	11. Death of Kenobi

Obi-wan was dead. I wasn’t there when it happened, but I did attend the funeral. Perhaps the rumors of Kenobi and Duchess Satine had something merit to it. Especially since the Duchess was crying. Anakin has a dark look about him, however. He seemed to be on the start of a war path But something didn’t feel right. 

After the funeral, The winged human went to Windu and expressed her uneasiness. 

“I understand your concern,” he said. “All will be revealed in due time.”

 _“I hate it when Jedi’s are cryptic like that,”_ thought Mara. _“But at least I know that he is still alive. I better keep that to myself.”_

She went back to her room and unfolded her wings. Unbelievably yet believably, she hasn’t let her wings drag across the floors of the Jedi Temple at all. It felt strange, and nice, that she could stretch out her extra appendages while alone in her quarters where no one can ogle at her.

Details of a new story she was going to tell the children were leaving her. Perhaps if she wrote them down, it would be more helpful? She activated the small holocomputer on her gauntlet and started typing in a document to be saved for later. 

_What was the title again?_ Now even that was fleeing her. _Wait no, it was a movie… and a book, actually. Something about dragons. No… not Game of Thrones. I could tell that tale to the clones, but definitely not the younglings. Oh! No, I remember now. How to Train Your Dragon! Oh it was so simple! Then again I did only watch it once._

She walked out of her room and just decided to wander around. Maybe get lost somewhere in the city. 

In the process of that, she somehow managed to run into Rex and Cody. They were in the clone bar 79’s. The two of them sat at the counter as she walked up to them.

“Well well well, hello soldier boys,” Mara stated.

“Mara, hey,” Rex stayed before he took a big sip of his drink.

“Drinking to a death are we?” She asked as she sat on the counter. She ordered something that resembled a caipirinha.

“Maybe,” admitted Cody. “Kenobi was a great man. Are you even old enough to drink that?”

“Where I come from, yes,” she stated. Which wasn’t really a lie. More than half of her missions on Earth were in Europe, which meant that she didn’t have to be twenty one to drink. It was mostly just a habit of fitting in.

“Where do you come from?” Rex questioned.

“Didn’t you hear? I fell from the sky,” she quipped. She took another sip of her drink before stating, “In all seriousness, I came from a planet that is far, far away and barely has the capability to send humans to the next planet.”

“How’d you get here then?”

She tried to think of the word. “Some wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey… stuff. A portal, a wormhole, whatever you call it. It is so far away that I have to have a translation device so that we can understand each other.”

“I remember you telling the boys that not everyone’s got what you have,” Cody stated after taking a sip of his drink.

“That’s true. I was created in a laboratory. They conducted experiments on me. That’s how I have my wings and my powers. They also taught us how to fight and sent us out on missions. Most of mine were assassinations.”

“How old are you?” 

She took another sip before admitting, “Seventeen.”

“Seventeen? That had you killing people at younger than seventeen?” 

“Well, yeah.”

“Anything else that might surprise us?”

“Well, I’m not a virgin either,” she took another sip. “but okay pretend you didn’t hear that.”

“Somehow I’m not surprised,” Rex told her.

“Hmm…” she gulped down her caipirinha a little. “I’m worried about Anakin. He’s on a warpath. I have a feeling that he might break the Jedi code and kill Kenobi’s sniper.”

“General Skywalker can be a bit impulsive sometimes.

“Yes, well.” By this point she had finished her drink and placed credits near the glass. “It was nice chatting with you gentlemen.”

“Likewise.”

Her walk back to the temple was dull. 

—————

That night she had a nightmare. The first one in weeks, months, maybe. Ahsoka was the one who woke her and told her that she was yelling in her sleep and thrashing about.

“Did I sleep talk?” Mara asked her friend. She still laid in the sheets as her friend stood over her with concern.

“A little, but it was sort of mumbled.”

“Could you make it out?”

“It was… something about you wanting to die instead of someone else.”

“Ah yes, that seems right.” Mara sat up. “Stupid reoccurring nightmare.”

“It’s happened before?” Mara nodded. “How many times?” 

“Well, a lot of times back on Earth, I only had it at most three months ago.” _“That’s right,” Mara thought. “It was on that cruiser. Kenobi was there to comfort me that time. I do miss him, but… I don’t know. He was definitely more comforting than Anakin. I guess it makes sense too, why this particular nightmare has come back. The Zygerrians and Micah Miranda are to blame for its return. That year of my life was especially traumatic. It was the year of my first five kills, the time my friend and I thought we could escape, and the year when my handler had to step in because I got too attached to the target’s son. He killed both the target and the son.”_

“Mara.” Ahsoka brought her out of her thoughts. “Are you okay? You looked off into the distance there.”

“Strictly speaking, I am. Loosely speaking, I most certainly am not.”

The white marking on her face that resembled eyebrows creased slightly. The Togruta moved to sit next to her on the bed. “Alright, which one do you want me to believe?”

“That’s for yourself to decide.”

“Mara-“

She faced the red skinned girl. “I am broken, Ahsoka, in too many ways. You cannot fix me.”

A knock on the door sounded. “Come in,” Mara projected. Anakin stepped through the sliding door.

“I thought I might find you both here,” the man said. “I have news about Kenobi’s killer.”

“What is it?” Ahsoka questioned, getting up from her spot on Mara’s bed.

“He’s escaped prison with Cad Bane and Moralo Eval. Ahsoka, I need you to come with me so that we can catch these guys.”

“Of course, Master,” Ahsoka told him. She looked back at her friend, saying a silent goodbye before exiting her room. 

She was alone again.

—————

By morning, she had learned that Kenobi’s killer actually was Kenobi. Apparently it was a Jedi Council plot to catch the people who were plotting to kidnap the chancellor.

Despite others’ praise of the event, Mara had no desire to go to an event for the celebration of a government she barely believed in. Much less she would attend this event when the hostess is just a woman who’s been trying to give her immunity. Mara already knew that she was protected by the Jedi. But for how long that would last is debatable.

When they returned, Mara greeted them. “Nice to know you aren’t dead,” she told Kenobi.

“Well, it’s good to be not dead,” the Jedi stated. Mara smiled.


	12. Rebels of Onderon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm baaaack

A week or so after Kenobi left to seek out an old enemy of his, Anakin invited Mara to come with him, Ahsoka, and Kenobi to train rebels fighting off the Separatists. She agreed to go. It would be a nice change of scenery from the walls she’s been staring at the entire three weeks.

The planet itself is a jungle planet. A nice change of pace for Mara. They were dropped in the fog of said terrain and were left to wander. Mara and Ahsoka took to the trees while Kenobi, Anakin, and Rex stayed on the ground.

Anakin was stopped by a woman riding something that resembles a horse. “Identify yourself!” She told him. A man riding the same sort of creature appeared out of the fog.

“It’s alright,” said Anakin, taking off his hood. “We’re friends.”

“Jedi?” She questioned as Ahsoka and Mara dropped from the trees. Rex and Obi-wan stepped forward from the brush. They too removed their hoods.

“I’m Commander Tano,” said Ahsoka. “We’re here to help you take back your planet.”

“My name is Steela,” said the woman on the horse. “I’ll guide you to our secret base.” She got off her horse and chose to lead the group on foot. The other man who was with her, took her steed.

They finally entered the base and were met with a man riding a dragon-like creature standing on the archway. A bunch of people wearing fabric to cover their face. Some weren’t. They looked a bit rough around the edges. Kenobi noted this fact.

“That’s why I brought Rex here,” Skyguy told him.

“They’re not exactly what I would call shinies, sir,” said Rex. “But I can work with them.”

The man riding the dragon came off the arch and landed in front of them. He got off to greet the group.“General Skywalker,” he recognized.

“At your service,” the Jedi said. “This is General Kenobi, Commander Tano, Captain Rex, and our friend, Miss Gyr.” There didn’t seem to be all that many of them.

“We’re looking forward to taking the fight to those scrappin’ droids,” the man said. 

“Yes, all in good time,” Kenobi stated.

“Saw,” the man introduced himself. “Saw Gerrera.”

“He fashions himself as our leader,” Steela informed before punching his arm and saying, “Though no one elected him.” The punch wasn’t in a playful manner. Perhaps they’re siblings.

Anakin crossed his arms into the sleeves of his Jedi robes saying, “Well, for now, we’re in charge, and there is much to learn.”

They had the rebels gather around in the strategy area of the base. It was outside with a circular almost table-looking thing.

“The Separatists have strength in numbers,” said Skywalker. “We’re gonna show you how to target and destroy them.”

Kenobi stepped up saying, “Now, to be clear, we are not here to fight your war. Rather to show you how to conduct it in the most efficient way and successful way possible.”

A few of the rebels nodded. Anakin gave the floor to Rex. “I’ll show you how the 501st destroy clankers,” the clone stated. “But first, I need volunteers to help bring back some supplies at an entry point a half click west.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem,” Saw stated. They went off right away.

Everyone else disassembled as the Jedi Generals talked between themselves. Lux was stopped by Ahsoka. Mara stuck close.

“Lux, it’s good to see you again,” Tano greeted.

“It’s good to see you too Ahsoka,” he said.

“I didn’t realize you had such strong ties to Onderon.”

“Onderon is my home,” he said with enthusiasm. “My mother represented it in the senate.”

“Your voice is strong, like hers was,” Steela interjected.

“Have you reconsidered joining the Republic Senate?” Ahsoka asked.

“Even if we do take back Onderon, it won’t change how I feel,” he said.

“I knew it. I told you, Ahsoka,” Mara stated. “If he doesn’t want to join, he doesn’t want to join.”

Lux turned to Mara as if recognizing her. “You’re that girl who called, aren’t you?” He asked her.

“Why yes, yes I am.”

“Well, what matters now is we need each other’s help,” Tano stated. “Just like we did on Carlac.”

Steela stopped walking, as if concerned. “Carlac?” Mara could hear it in her voice too. “What happened on Carac?”

Noticing that she stopped, Lux and Ahsoka turned to her. He said, “Ahsoka’s the reason I’m here and not with Death Watch.”

“Oh, so that’s why he took control of the ship,” Mara muttered under her breath.

“Really?” A hint of jealousy and slight disbelief showed in Steela.

“What he means to say is-“ Ahsoka tried to explain, but he cut her off.

“She saved me from a huge mistake,” he informed her.

A hint of surprise showed in the woman’s eyes as Lux walked off. Her hands settled on her hips. “Hmm,” she said. “Lux obviously thinks highly of you.”

“I guess so,” Ahsoka stated sternly.

Steela leaned forward slightly. “Let’s hope that respect is well founded.” The woman then walked off.

“What the heck?” Ahsoka asked Mara in a hushed voice.

“It seems to me that Steela is in love with Lux and sees you as competition,” Mara told her.

“What?”

“You heard me,” the winged human stated as she too walked off.

A clanker's tank was retrieved and placed in a small clearing. Ahsoka took the lead on explaining how to take it down while the two Jedi masters stood to the side. Mara and Rex stood on either side of the tank. “The pilot in the front hatch controls the tank, the shells and the short range blasters,” explained Tano. “The commander in the top hatch controls the turret. And the main cannon. You have to take out both chambers otherwise the tank will become operational.” She nodded to the two non-Jedi.

Mara and Rex stepped towards each other. He gave her a boost in leaping for the second chamber before jumping for the first. Mara flipped to get a better landing onto the top half of the tank. They both lifted the hatches and threw the electrical detonators. Next, they both leaped out of the way before an electrical surge took over the machine.

“Everyone,” Anakin grabbed their attention. “Divide into teams of two and we’ll practice an assault on the hatches.”

Everyone except Steela did as asked. It seemed she was an odd man out. Lux and Saw were up first. They got cocky and failed miserably. Their egos clashed as well. Everyone except Saw and Lux did the drill about half a dozen times over.

The next drill they did was with destroyer droids. Anakin took the lead in explaining this one. “Destroyers are quick, pack twin blasters and come with their own shield generators. Nothing short of a canon will pierce it. But, they do have two weaknesses and you will need to work together to explain them.” The Jedi nodded to Rex who activated the droid. Shield and all. “The shields deflect high velocity attacks.”

Rex fires two shots and they both bounced off. The droid turned towards him. Rex backed up for safety reasons. “What the shields won’t stop,” Anakin continued. “Are slow or stationary objects. They’re designed to absorb them, so nothing hinders their movements.”

Mara stepped behind it and slowly rolled an electrical detonator which went through the shield and deactivated the robot.

Ahsoka took over the presentation saying, “Destroyers are blind from behind. A distraction combined with a rear assault will give you a kill. The trick is to get the right speed on the droid popper.”

Rex activated the robots and held up one of the detonators. “These are unarmed. Just concentrate on getting it past the shield.” He tossed it to Saw. Mara rolled her eyes at his cockiness as he swung the detonator a tad bit too hard. It slightly bounced off of the ray shield. Lux was tossed a detonator by Mara. His attempt actually succeeded.

“Nice touch,” Mara complimented him.

“Thanks,” he said.

“Not bad,” Steela playfully and lightly punched him on the shoulder and stepped forward, signifying that she wanted to go next. Mara tossed her a detonator. Steela had the same touch as her brother as the detonator lightly bounced off of the shield. “Ugh!” She seemed sort of frustrated.

Kenobi stepped up to her, “Be mindful of your frustrations,” he told her. “They’ll only hold you back.” She nodded.

Lux showed her how he threw it as everyone else split into teams of two. Mara gave them all the detonators and they started practice. The winged human noted how her Togruta friend seemed disappointed that Lux and Steela teamed up, but was willing to team up with Saw.

All of a sudden, Mara spotted something weird. She thought she saw a glint coming from the forest. She used her heightened senses to see better. A droid. Oh no. Mara excused herself, saying she sensed something and wanted to check it out. After all, she doesn’t need a blaster to bring down a droid.

It seemed like it spotted her too and noticed her trajectory. The probe droid fled and she chased. Since she was alone, she decided to use her wings. By the time she destroyed the robot, her ears picked up the sound of blaster bolts. Lots of blaster bolts.

She raced back to find the Jedi deflecting the red lasers. The teen landed on a tree, folding her wings in. Mara thought she’d take a few of them off her hands. Without making a sound, she telekinetically called the droid’s blasters to her. “Hello there,” she called with a slight chuckle before unleashing all hell on the droids. She failed to notice one of the larger silver droids as it fired a shot that hit her in the right shoulder. 

When she hit the ground, she got back up weirdly. “Ugh, so that’s what a blaster bolt feels like,” she groaned.

A few seconds later, she heard the rumble of hoofs against the ground and guessed that someone cut the animals loose. A giant explosion sounded. Mara got up and raced to the clearing only to see Lux and Saw cooperate and destroy the tank.

She rolled her wounded shoulder as she gathered up with the rest of the people. 

“Take confidence from this victory,” Obi-wan told them. “But rest assured, there will be more droids coming now that they know your position.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Anakin decided. “You’re ready now. We are going to take the fight to the droids. You don’t have to hide in the jungle any longer.”

“Droids were a bit dim,” admitted Saw. “More so than I imagined.”

“That’s probably my fault then,” Mara stated. “I did take a bunch of them off of your hands.”

“Mara, are you okay?” Anakin asked her. “You did get hit in the shoulder.”

“You know I heal quickly, remember?” she responded and rolled up her sleeve. “Ohhhh, look at that, it’s already healed.”

“Battle droids make up for their dimness in numbers,” Ahsoka informed Saw. “They’re designed to overwhelm.”

“But they’re not designed to deal with our approach,” Skywalker proclaimed.

“We hit them when we least expect it,” Lux theorized. “And before they realize what happened-“

“We fade in with the rest of the population,” Steela interjected.

“Exactly,” Anakin said with a smile.

“We’ll need a plan to get into the city,” Mara pointed out.

“I… have an idea,” announced.

—————

Lux put a bunch of game into caravan wagons. Or at least, that’s what they looked like to Mara. The only thing they were missing were wheels, which they didn’t need. They also covered the dead animals under a tarp. Bonteri and Ahsoka rode on the front of one while Steela rose in the back. Anakin rose in the front of a second one. Mara rode in the back. Kenobi rose on one of the horses near Anakin’s wagon. They walked in a line, Bonteri’s before Skywalker’s.

They approached the city gates and were stopped by battle droids. “Halt!” One said. They did. “What were you doing outside of city gates?”

“Hunting,” answered Bonteri. “We’ve been trekking for days.”

“Did you register before your excursion?” a droid.

“No, but most of our time is spent in the bush collecting our traps,” he said. The other droid went to inspect his wagon. “We come to the city to sell. You can’t get thrip larvae like this in Iziz. Only the biggest trees on the other side of Onderon.”

“Hey, listen,” said Steela trying to move things along. “We need to deliver all of this in time for supper.”

“Hmm,” said the droid. “Are you scanning anything?” it asked the other clanker.

“It’s hard to tell with so much organic matter,” the other droid stated.

“Come on,” called the person riding on the back of Anakin’s wagon. “Our merchants are waiting inside. Can you hurry it up?”

“Let them through,” one of the droids said.

“Roger roger,” the other stated.

The shield was lifted, and the wagons went through.

The city looked almost like 18th-century architecture to Mara.

The wagons stopped side by side. Kenobi went between them. “Not bad,” stated Skywalker. “But now the hard work begins.”

“You must find recruits and choose your targets wisely,” advised Kenobi. “They’ll be looking for us.”

Lux stood up, saying, “We should split up. Regroup after nightfall. 

“I’ll alert our brothers,” announced Saw, stepping off the wagon. Lux did the same, as did the lady in the back of Anakin’s wagon.

“We’ll make sure you have the supplies you need,” decided Anakin as he and Bonteri locked eyes.

“Rex and I will take care of that,” said Ahsoka. Rex emerged from the tarp and went on top of it.

“Good luck,” Lux said to them. 

“You too,” both Ahsoka and Steela stated. Steela went to sit next to Ahsoka and their wagon rode off.

And then there were three. “How do you think they’ll do?” Anakin asked Kenobi and Mara.

“I think we’ll be pleasantly surprised,” Kenobi theorized.

“So you admit our new strategy will work?” Skywalker questioned.

“I am hopeful, Anakin. Hopeful,” responded the Jedi as he rode his animal elsewhere throughout the city.

“Not gonna join them?” Skyguy asked Mara as he turned to look at her. 

“Hmm no,” she responded. “Besides. They are the ones who are supposed to be rebelling, right?” He smirked and led their wagon to a different part of the city. After a while, they abandoned it and observed the rebels do their work. 


	13. Meetings and Attacks

After five attacks on the droids, and the word spread around, the small, yet growing group of rebels met in a cramped room somewhere in the city. When the Jedi had finally arrived, they took off their cloak hoods.

“Your success will not go unnoticed,” Anakin told them. Cheers erupted from the gatherers. Mara heard the flank of cups.

“I agree,” Obi-wan stated. “But we need to be mindful of public perception. What was your observation Padawan? Miss Gyr?”

Ahsoka and Mara looked at each other before the Togruta told him, “The people were fearful, master.”

“Indeed,” Kenobi agreed. “Judging from the reactions I saw today, I’m afraid they will mistake your intentions.”

“We need to do more damage,” theorized Saw. “A few dozen broken-down droids will do little to free Onderon.”

“ _Do you hear the people sing? Singing the song of angry men?”_ Mara thought. “ _The people here want to, they’re just scared. Oh jeez, why am I thinking of Les Miserable.”_

“The people need to believe we can succeed,” Steela interjected. “Without their support our effort is meaningless.”

“If they’re afraid, they won’t support us,” Lux pointed out. “We need to assure them of our intentions.”

“I don’t understand,” said Saw. “Why are they afraid?”

“They’re afraid we’re not strong enough to win,” said Steela. We need to earn their trust.”

“You’ll have plenty of time to earn their trust,” Anakin stated. “All of you are going to be very busy.”

“Today was only a taste,” Rex said inspiringly. “You’ll get your chance.”

“In the meantime,” Kenobi told them. “Make the most of your victories. Welcome and learn from them.”

“Perhaps if we hit something big,” Bonteri suggested. He stood. “Give a show of strength. They will overcome their fear and join us.”

“Got a special target in mind?” Mara questioned him.

“I know the perfect target,” he told her. “The power plant.”

“Interesting. Why?”

“Even if they aren’t linked anymore, they still need to recharge.” Mara smiled.

The meeting was adjourned shortly after. When Mara left the building, she found Ahsoka standing there. “What’s going on? Where’re Kenobi, Rex, and Skyguy?”

“They’re heading back to Coruscant, leaving us in charge until they get back.”

The winged human smiled for the second time in an hour. “I see. Alright, you stay here with Lux and the Guerreras to scope it out. Once you figure out a plan, contact me, and I’ll help organize the others.”

“Right.”

_________

About two hours later, when the sun was setting, the plan was set and the rebels were organized. Mara, who was perched on top of a building, told them, “Okay, a patrol is heading your way.”

“Got it,” responded Ahsoka. From her perch, she could hear the blasters firing. 

A few minutes later, Mara informed, “Incoming destroyers.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Do you mind coming down?” Tano’s voice was almost shouting.

The winged teen flew down and as quietly as she could, she crept from the alleyway and threw a detonator softly at the destroyers’ shields. They went through and deactivated the droids.

“Nice work Gyr,” Saw stated.

Her ears pricked up a bit. “They sent tanks,” she told them in a neutral tone. As soon as they were in range, the tank began firing. The rebels ducked.

“Split up!” Ahsoka commanded. The four other rebels in the area (including Mara), went for the alleyways and behind crates for cover. Steela sniped down the super battle droids as Saw and Lux approached the tank.

“Let’s move,” Saw stated as the two of them climbed onto the tank. Saw took the bottom while Lux took the top. After they had chucked their detonators inside the hatches, the two men jumped out of the way. The tanks circuits fried.

There were still two more robots to take care of. Mara tore them apart by using her telekinesis.

“Great job,” said Saw. “Now let’s get this thing up and running again.” He climbed up to the top hatch. Lux did the same. The two of them dragged the deactivated droid out before the Guerrera boy got in. He couldn’t activate the machine. 

Thinking this, Steela told him to get out and let her have a try. He did. After a few seconds, she got it up and running again. They swapped places and the sister slid down the giant machine. Lux got in the front hatch while Ahsoka and Steela stood on the sides.

Mara went back to being Overwatch and moved to one of the surrounding roofs of the buildings near the power plant. “Eleven droids at the door. Six supers, and five regular. Everything else looks good,” she informed the group. “Go.” Steela and Ahsoka got off the sides in order to snip down the droids. They climbed on top of a building. 

“We’re almost in position,” Saw stated over the comlink. “Ready when you guys are.”

“Okay, Steela, take your shots,” Mara told her. The woman immediately shot them down one by one. All before they even raised their blasters, or arms. They fired back but none hit her.

All of a sudden, Mara spotted a patrol heading Ahsoka’s way. “Ahsoka, patrol behind you.”

The Togruta turned to find a small group of droids firing at her. She blocked and deflected them with her lightsabers. Each deflection hit her targets.

Then the tank moved in. It rammed into the surviving robots.

“You’re all clear, destroy the door,” Mara told Saw. He fired twice. There was now no door. Fighter droids appeared. Steela and Bonteri took down most of them. As they fought, Mara flew closer to the top of the wall. “There’s no other droids, you are a go!”

With that, Guerrera fired his last shot. The three humans went behind the tank as an EMP went off. Mara flew above its radius. When it had dissipated, she flew down to Ahsoka’s position. The padawan stated, “Looks like the training’s paying off.”

“Looks like,” Mara agreed. She looked at the tank and found that the three humans had fled. “Let’s inform the night crew they can get going.”

The night crew, as Mara put it, were some other rebels dressed in dark clothing and equipped with night vision goggles. The winged human gave them the go ahead to shoot at any droid patrols they saw.

They all heard the shouts of the civilians. “It’s the rebels!” “Take down those droids!” “Free Onderon!” “Freedom!” “Free Onderon!” “Fight for freedom!” “Get those droids!” “Freedom!”

The remainder of the night was spent taking down patrols and watching civilians set fire to tanks. It was a pretty cool sight, in Mara’ eyes anway. In a way, it really was like Les Miserable. Which makes this, in a way, the barricade.

__________

A few moments later, the rebels gathered in the same building they had used before. Rex and the two Jedi masters were there via hologram. The rebels excitedly told them of their success. With that done, they decided a celebration was in order.

Mara and Ahsoka stuck around the Jedi and the clone as they talked. “Steela’s a born leader,” Rex noted.

“And quite courageous, I hear,” Kenobi added.

“She did well, they all did,” Mara told them. The teen looked at the Padawan who was staring at Lux. She quietly walked over and whispered, “You’re staring.”

“Uh!” Tano was taken aback by her friend's sudden comment and tore her gaze away from the late Senator’s son. “Mara!”

The winged human only smiled.

Kenobi stepped up and stated, “This latest development will surely get Count Dooku’s attention. He will respond harshly. They will stop at nothing to find you. You must adapt and continue to confront them in order to liberate Onderon.”

“We will,” Saw assured the Jedi.

“And then we shall win!” Proclaimed Steela.

“And that I have no doubt of,” Kenobi told her.

“Now you must rally the people,” Anakin stated, stepping up slightly. “You will need their support. Your ability to influence them will also determine your capacity to represent them.” He looked at Bonteri before glancing at the Guerreras. “Not only on the battlefield, but off it, against your enemies, even within your own ranks. Your commitment will inspire others. Your conviction will lead you to victory.”

“After tonight’s efforts,” Kenobi spoke again. “The people will be ready to follow. You will need a leader to rally them.”

The call ended soon after, but the people remained. With a drink in hand, Saw stated. “We need to build on our momentum and continue our attacks to keep them off balance.”

“We have to assure the people first,” Lux argued. “If we keep disrupting their lives, we risk alienating them. We have to gain their trust.”

“I agree with both of you,” Steela declared. “We can balance both. We also need to recruit others to join us.” She turned to the rest of the rebels in a fit of inspiration. “Onderon is ours. We will remind everyone and keep reminding them, until we get it back.”

Cheers erupted from the rest of the rebels. “Onderon is ours!” “Free Onderon!” “Onderon!” “Freedom!”

Suddenly, a rebel rose up from her seat. “All in favor of Steela as our leader, raise your hand,” she announced with a raised hand. The majority of the others held up their hands.

Saw seemed slightly disappointed at the turn out but then said, “Okay, so it’s decided.” He then put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “You’re the leader.” With hsi drink still in his hand, he walked off.

“Saw-” Steela tried, going after him. 

She was stopped by Bonteri. “Let him go,” he advised. “He just needs to blow off some steam. He’ll be back.”

“I can’t,” Steela decided, shaking off his arm. She went after him but was then stopped by Ahsoka.

“Why?” the padawan questioned.

“He’s my brother,” she answered and went out.

Mara sighed as she watched the scene unfold. “It’s alright, guys. Just leave them be.”

“Mara,” Bonteri approached her. “You… don’t seem like a Jedi.”

“You are correct in your assumption.” She stepped closer to him “Did my allowance of your doing in Carlac tip you off?”

“That was only half of it,” he informed her.

“I see.”

“You’ve remained awfully quiet this entire meeting, Mara,” Ahsoka stated, stepping closer to them. “Credit for your thoughts?”

“There’s this time in history that this reminds me of. It was made famous by this musical called Les Miserable. There’s a certain song that’s gotten stuck in my head.”

“Oh?” Bonteri inquired. “Please, do enlighten us.” He stepped backwards, giving her the center of the room.

“You sure?” Mara asked as she walked.

“Of course,” both the padawan and rebel stated. Noticing this, they glanced at each other and smiled.

Mara took in a deep breath and started. “Do you hear the people sing? Singing the songs of angry men? It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again!” People started noticing her voice and turned to see.

“When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!” 

She then hopped up onto a crate and sang with hand gestures here and there, “Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free! 

“Do you hear the people sing? Singing the songs of angry men? It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!”

She saw the Guerreras entering but continued singing. “Will you give all you can give so that our banner may advance? Some will fall and some will live. Will you stand up and take your chance? The blood of the martyrs will water the meadows of France!”

As she sang the last verse, she could hear the voices of the others join in. “Do you hear the people sing? Singing the songs of angry men? It is the music of the people who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums, there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes!” She smiled, out of breath as the rebels cheered.


	14. Rescuing Dendup

The next day, word spread around that a new convoy was entering the city. Mara helped Steela organize. The rebels planted holo devices all over the city. They would broadcast whatever she had to say at a moment’s notice.

“Reinforcements just came in,” Saw informed over the coms. “A small droid convoy leading a multi-troop transport. An AAT bringing up the rear.”

“Copy,” Steela stated. He was perched low ontop someone’s roof. A small band of rebels armed with rifles were on the roof with her. On her count, they raised hell on the battle droids. One of them chucked a thermal detonator at them.

From the AAT came a bunch of super droids that were immediately shot down. The tank was aimed towards them, but it was quickly taken down by Gerrera, also using thermal detonators. With the heavy onslaught of blaster bolts, the AAT was brought down as well.

Stella jumped to the top of the AAT. The civilians gathered around her. “Do not be afraid brothers and sisters!” She projected. “We mean you no harm.” She activated the broadcast and the holo transmitters showed her all over the city. “People of Onderon, the time has come to take back our freedom. We have all been deceived. King Rash is a  _ traitor  _ who has sold Onderon to the Separatists for the crown. But Onderon is ours,” she declared. “We need your strength to reclaim our planet and restore our sovereignty under our true king: King Dendup.”

The damage was done, and now it was time to regroup. Gather supplies.

__________

Two men had brought a crate of explosives when one of the rebels approached Ahsoka, Steela, and Mara. “They’re executing King Dendup tomorrow in Yolahn Square!” she shouted as she ran towards the other women.

“Where did you hear this?” Steela questioned.

“Malgan Market,” she responded. “The Merchants. The Separatists are saying he’s behind our attacks!”

Steela scoffed and crossed her arms. “More lies,” she said with distaste. She moved to go inside. The other three followed. “They’re making him an example to humiliate us.”

“Maybe,” said Mara. “But their efforts could work against them.” Steela stopped and the winged human looked between tongues surrounding her. “Executing him would only make him a martyr.”

“We can’t just let him die,” Saw spoke up from his spot against the wall. He stepped towards her. “We have to break it out somehow.”

“No,” Steela disagreed. “We should wait until he’s in public, at the execution.”

“That’s what they’re expecting,” her brother countered.

“I know, but this is our moment. We’ll save him for all of Iziz to witness. We don’t have much time.”

“They’re counting on us to show up.” He turned and went to leave.

“Where are you going?” She asked him. He kept walking.

“Trust me,” was all he said.

“Stop,” she ordered.

He stopped and looked back at her. “Let me take care of this.”

“This isn’t about you.”

Lux stepped up. “We can’t afford a reckless move right now.”

“Yeah?” Saw questioned the son of the late Senator. “Go write a speech about it.”

“You have to weigh the risk,” Ahsoka spoke up.

“That’s why I’m going alone.” He then walked out. One of the rebels walked outside and turned back to Steela.

“Follow him,” she ordered. The rebel nodded and ran after him.

—————

Ahsoka and Mara decided it was time they call Kenobi and Skywalker.

“I sense fear in you, Ahsoka,” Kenobi voiced. His and Anakin’s forms were small on the holo-device.

“The rebels are divided,” she told them. “If they try to rescue the king now, I’m afraid we might lose them.”

“We can not control their fate,” Obi-wan advised.

“It’s just—they’re risking their lives to save just one.”

“Must be a pretty special guy,” Mara muttered.

“Do not underestimate the King's power,” Kenobi told her. “He represents hope and is critical to their success.”

“I don’t know about Mara, but I feel responsible about them,” the Togruta told the masters.

“I know you do, Snips,” Anakin voiced. “But remember, purpose must come before feelings.”

“I know, Master,” Tano said.

“Step in only if you must,” Kenobi advised. “But remember, if this experiment is to become an effective strategy, they must learn to survive on their own.”

Mara and Ahsoka glanced at each other briefly before the Padawan stated, “Yes, Master Kenobi, we understand.”

—————

As Steela had just gone over the plans to storm the square during the execution. “It’s a risky plan,” noted Lux. He looked to the Padawan and her friend. “Ahsoka, Mara, will you join us?”

The two of them looked at each other and reached the same conclusion. Slight sadness became readable on Mara’s face. “We can’t.” The human explained. “We’ve already been more involved than the council has wanted. We’re afraid we’ve been constructed to sit this one out.”

“But, you aren’t a Jedi,” Lux countered, speaking to Mara.

“I know. But I was sent here to do nothing more than she is,” Mara told him.

Suddenly, a rebel rushed into the room. She was the same one that Steela had ordered to follow her brother. “They have Saw,” she told them. Gasps and small murmurs came from the others. “He’s alive,” she elaborated, but I watched them take him away.”

Abruptly, Bonteri stood and declared, “We have to save him!”

Hubbub of agreement from the others rose from their throats as they too rose from their spots on the benches. With purpose, they walked to their weapons. 

“No,” commanded Steela. She had been silent since the news came. Mara knew she was settling a debate in her head. “We have to save King Dendup. We don’t have time or the bodies to do both.”

“He’s your brother,” Lux argued.

“It’s what Saw would have wanted,” she countered, calmly. “What he would expect. And I expect the same from everyone in this room.”

Ahsoka stood from her position. With a brisk and stiff walk, she ventured to the center of the room and spoke. “I know it’s a hard choice, but I agree. Purpose must come before feelings.”

“Or,” Mara spoke up with great realization. “Or we don’t have to choose. What if they plan on executing both the King and Saw? We could rescue both.”

“Or they could keep him, and torture him,” Ahsoka brought up.

“We are saving Dendup,” Steela decided. Everyone geared up and went to the capital.

—————

When they arrived, they pushed to the front of the crowd. Ahsoka and Mara were present too, but as observers and stated somewhere in the back. Murmurs came from the crowd as the new king walked down the steps to a platform between the lower steps. In front of him was an activated almost guillotine-like device that will surely be used for the execution. He was accompanied by many droids and two people in chains. One of them was Dendup. The other was Saw.

“As your king,” the Separatist pawn spoke. “I present to you Ramsis Dendup. Not as a former king but as a criminal, sponsoring terrorist acts against the people of Onderon. But fear not, good citizens. As your leader and protector, I will see that you are safe from such villainy. He has betrayed you, and today he will pay for those treasonous deeds with his life.”

The old king was kicked into his knees behind the machine. The new king said something inaudible and something that Mara didn’t care to hear. He then dropped a fruit into the red lasers in the device. Two droids (one on either side) spin their electric staffs to the sides of the device which activates the guillotine, perfectly splitting the fruit in half. The droids then brought their weapons away from the device.

Some of the rebels nodded to each other. They were ready to intervene at any moment. As the sepretist leader brought the old king’s head through the device, the rebels’ plan was activated. Steela got onto Lux’s shoulders and shot down a few of the droids. The others took it as their cue to throw smoke bombs to create confusion as they fought to take down the remaining droids. 

Many seconds later, they have succeeded in getting both prisoners, but have now been cornered by super droids. “Surrender now or die,” the tactical droid told them.

“It’s over, do as they say,” Dendup ordered. With a nod from Ahsoka, they laid down their weapons, much to the uproar of the people. 

“Calm yourselves, the threat is over,” the current king said, ”See for yourself as these traitors all endure the same punishment. Ready weapons!” The droids readied their staffs. “The snake will not strike again.”

The rebels were all lined up. First to be executed was still the king. That was it. That was the line. Ahsoka and Mara nodded to each other and began to make their way from the back of the crowd.

Suddenly, the royal guard appeared with their guns aimed at the droids. “Stop!” The General projected. The king turned to them. “The only snake I see here, sire, is you.”

“Traitor!” The king accused.

“I was,” responded the General. “Not anymore.”

Bonteri helped Dendup up as the General dragged the new king towards the lower steps in a choke hold. The crowd cheered. The rebels then walked off the platform with the rest of the royal guard. The General, however, stayed behind.

“Now, Ahsoka,” Mara persuaded. The two of them lept in front of the crowd and knocked down the droids. The Togruta ignited her sabers. 

The Padawan then turned to the man saying, “General, follow me.” He pushed the king out of his grasp and went with her, disappearing into the crowd.

The king ordered the droids to go after them and kill them. Mara would have gladly split the droids in half if it weren't for the enraged crowd of townspeople shouting at the king. He had lost the faith of the people. Mara took that as a distraction and slipped away.

—————

Now back at the hideout, Steela helped King Dendup sit down as Ahsoka and the General came inside. They were followed shortly by Mara. “Why now?” Dendup asked the general. Lux sat next to the bearded man on the bench. Most of the other rebels stood near.

“It was time for a new approach, my lord,” he answered.

“Do I have your loyalty?”

“And that of the army,” he endured the king.

“You also have ours,” Steela spoke. “With your rule, our numbers will grow.”

“Thanks, child.” Dendup then turned to Lux and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Your mother would be proud.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Bonteri stated.

“We must first win the will of the people,” Dendup brought up. “That is the only way.” He stood. “The Separatists will assemble their forces. Count Dolly will want me dead more than ever. 

“Then we’ll have to teach them another lesson,” Saw said, upbeat. “Together!” To that, the rebels cheered.

Ahsoka and Mara were approached by Lux as the General went to shake Dendup’s hand. “Ahsoka,” Bonteri stated. “I knew you couldn’t resist a good fight.”

“Am I becoming that predictable?” The Togruta questioned with an arched brow.

“Only to me.”

Seeing Ahsoka smile made Mara smile. Things were looking up.

—————

Later, Ahsoka and Mara called Obi-wan and Anakin to tell them of today’s events.

“The Separatists definitely know we’re backing the rebels,” Mara admitted.

“Then prepare yourselves,” Kenobi instructed. “The real fight is about to begin.”

“Will you be able to send some help?” Tano asked them.

“That’s up to the council, Mara,” Anakin explained.

“Of course.”

  
  



	15. Tipping Point

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another chapter posted recent to the last one!

During the next week, they moved the base far out to the deserts of Onderon. They’ve gotten around using those flying reptiles. They reminded her of the banshee from that movie Avatar. 

Just this morning, Ahsoka, Mara, and Lux were setting up holoprojectors all over the city. Dendup gave quite the inspiring speech. The street venders attacked the droids with fruit. 

When they arrived back to the base on those flying lizards, the Gerreras and King Dendup were waiting for them. “The people are turning against the droids,” Lux told them. “There’s rioting in the streets.”

“That’s a beautiful thing,” Saw said as he went up to him. He patted him on the shoulder.

Mars chuckled before adding, “They attacked the droids with fruits. And I think one of the animals sat on one.”

“We need to keep the battle to the outskirts of the city,” Steela told them. 

“Less structures, and people,” Lux agreed.

“But less clankers,” Saw argued. “Their main force is in Iziz. We should join the fight down there and take it straight to King Rash.”

“We all want victory, but not at the cost of innocent lives,” Steela countered. “If we fight door to door, no one is safe.”

“This is war, Steela.”

“She’s right,” Dendup stated, making his presence known. He stepped closer to the three of them.

“I agree,” Ahsoka told them, walking next to the king. “The more you draw the droids from the city to the highlands, the safer the people will be.” 

The General spoke. He stood to the right of Dendup. “The Royal Army awaits your orders my lord.”

“I believe there’s a new contender,” the king stated, to everyone’s confusion. He looked to Steela when he said, “ _ You _ will lead our forces, including the Royal Army.” He stepped towards her. “Steela is now the commanding general.”

“A great choice,” Ahsoka seconded.

There was hesitation in the general’s voice before he bowed, saying, “As you wish, my lord.”

“You and your rebels renewed my faith in myself,” Dendup told Steela. He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Now, I’m putting my faith in you.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” Steela said as he walked away. She then turned to her Lux and Ahsoka. “Let’s ride.”

Steela noticed that Lux was choosing to go with Ahsoka. She walked towards him and kissed him suddenly. “Just in case,” she stated before getting onto one of the dragons. Tano lovingly pinched his arm before the creatures took flight.

Saw and Mara watched them take off. “Not gonna join them?” Saw asked her.

“No, I don’t think I will.” She turned to the male. “What about you, huh? Aren’t you gonna get up there?”

“Nah. Besides, one of our scouts picked up a droid scout, but was unable to capture it.”

“I see. We better get ready then.”

—————

It was midday when the droid army finally arrived. By that time, ground soldiers were waiting for them in the trees while riders were waiting for them on the surrounding rocks. Another group of ground soldiers and cattle riders marched up to the droids. 

Steela gave the go-ahead for Saw to begin attacking. He rode one of the dragons and threw thermal detonators at the droids while most everyone else began shooting. Horses trampled on some of the bots while a cannon took care of the other droids. Steela sniped some of the fighter droids. Mara and a few of the other soldiers gunned down the droids from their hidden spots in the trees.

She knows that she technically isn’t supposed to be involved, since she came here with Ahsoka, but Mara isn’t a Jedi. She doesn’t technically have to conform to their rules. That’s why she took the lead in this little squad gunning droids from the trees.

Soon came the drones. Large flying killing machines. They gunned down some of the dragons and the revel’s cannon. People tried firing at them, but they were ray shielded.

Things were getting very dicey all too quickly. The council won’t help. Mara knows this without even contacting Anakin or Obi-wan. Who else would help them? Who could she call? Micah Miranda? No. She wouldn’t dare. He’s the last person she would even want to contact. Yet, she has no way of contacting him so it’s a bust anyway.

She knows that the other leaders, including Ahsoka have probably retreated by now. Guess it’s time for her group to do the same. The commando droids were getting too close anyway.

“Fall back!” She ordered.

They made it deep inside the base. She managed to catch the other leaders talking. 

“We’re not giving up yet,” Steela told them. “Stagger our defenses to the camp. Secure the approach. Stay in small teams. Make use of our training.”

“You really are the best leader among us.” Saw stated.

“She really is,” Mara said, making her presence known. They turned to look at her.

“Mara, good you’re back,” Ahsoka sounded so relieved. “Still going to ignore the council’s orders?”

“Yeah. What the council doesn’t know won’t hurt them. Besides, I’m technically not one of you,” she reminded the Togruta.

“Right.”

“Let’s go, general,” Saw stated. The leader of the Royal Guard and some of the surrounding soldiers walked with them back outside. Mara went too. As she walked away she heard Bonteri pleading.

“You have to help us,” he said in a quite voice. He was talking to Ahsoka. She vowed that she would do everything in her power to protect them, but she couldn’t fight in this war. A bit angered, Lux joined Saw. Mara chose to lag behind a little.

Outside a ship landed. Gyr went to check it out. People started bringing things out in large crates. “Don’t shoot!” Ahsoka ordered as her and Steela ran out.

The leader of the Weequay pirates walked up to them. A well dressed human trailed behind. His arms were brought together behind him. He had the same red hair and general looks as Micah Miranda. Mara decided to stand far away from them.

Lux aimed his pistol at Hondo, who walked up to him. The pirate turned to Steela. Wanting to know what he was saying, Mara used her heightened senses. “Well, you could be my new favorite spice,” he said to the rebel leader.

“Yeah,” said Steela. “I don’t think so.”

“Careful, pirate,” Lux sneered.

“Hondo, what are you doing here?” Ahsoka questioned him. She moved her head to look at the red headed man. “And who’s he?”

“Oh, no non no no no. You should thank me child. I have brought you a gift from Skywalker and Kenobi. And he,” Hondo gestured back to Micah. “Owes me one.”

“Micah Miranda,” the young man introduced himself. “Weapons dealer at your service.” He looked to the crates that were currently being opened. “I’ve brought some of my finest toys.”

“Rocket launchers?” Ahsoka recognized.

“Shoulder fired. Very expensive,” Hondo told her, making the money gesture with his fingers.

“Paid for?” 

“Very handsome.”

“Ahsoka!” Mara called. She didn’t want these schmucks to hang around any longer than they have to. 

The Togruta went to her, but so did Micah. Tano reached her first. “What is it, Mara?”

“I don’t think I need to tell you that that redhead is the one who bought me back on Zygerria.” Mara spoke in a hushed voice.

“That’s him?” Ahsoka spoke in the same tone. “Mara, are you sure?”

“Mara? How peculiar,” said Micah. “I could have sworn your name was Inara.”

“Yes, well, my DNA isn’t in any database, so I could lie,” the winged human stepped up to him with crossed arms.

“Well, now that you’ve had a sense of adventure, why don’t you come home? It’s been terribly weird without you.” He faked a whin.

She gave him a blank expression. “Not a chance.”

Micah stepped closer to her. “You don’t have a choice. I own you.”

“What are you doing here?” She asked coldly.

“Well, those pirates over there requested weapons. Believe it or not, I own them a favor. Who am I to deny them? I am an arms dealer after all.”

“Yes, well, now that you’ve delivered them, why don’t you leave?” Ahsoka stepped in.

“Oh believe me, I will, but not until I take back what’s mine.” 

“Oh believe me,” Mara said with malice. “I haven’t the slightest intention of going with you.”

He gasped softly in surprise, as if hurt. “Oh,  _ Inara _ , you wound me.” He put emphasis on the fake name, as if he meant to say that he was going to call her that no matter what.

“Good.”

He looked to the Padawan before saying, “But if your Jedi protector is here, I suppose it cannot be helped. Even though you don’t need them.”

“Is there some sort of problem here?” Steela interjected, walking towards them.

“No,” said Micah. “I was-“ just then, a blaster bolt broke the quiet air. Commando droids. “just about to leave.” He, along with all of the pirates hurried off to the ship, leaving the weapons. Somehow, Mara exhaled in relief.

She then helped take down the scouting droids. Steela groaned in frustration. “They must have seen Hondo’s ship.”

“It was only a patrol,” Ahsoka tried to ease her.

Lux took the weapons out of the crate. “We should get these down to the others,” he brought up.

“Yeah,” Mara agreed, taking a few of them. 

—————

When they did, Saw decided to try it out by taking down one of the drones. It was then decided that they’d distribute the rocket launchers and take out the rest of the gunships.

Suddenly, on the comlink, “Steela, they’re attacking the nest. They’re after the king!”

Quickly, the rebel leader rides off to aid the king.

“She sure leads by example,” said Ahsoka. Mara decided to help pick off the battle droids as she spoke to Lux. As they went after Steela, the winged human accompanied the soldiers and took down most of the regular battle droids. She tore some of the commando droids apart with telekinesis.

All of a sudden, that didn’t matter. “Mara,” said Saw on the comlink. “You’re going to want to get over to my location.”

“What? Why?” 

“Just get here!” He sounded desperate and angry. 

“Go, we can handle things from here,” said one of the rebels. 

“Okay,” Mara allowed. She sprinted over to Saw only to find him staring at a body that lay dead on the ground. The teen looked up to find a devastated Ahsoka and Lux. Saw and Mara rush over to a deceased Steela. He took her in her arms.

“Oh no, I’m so sorry,” Mara muttered as he clutched his sister.

Soon, others gathered around them, including Ahsoka and Bonteri. The son of the late Senator knelt down beside the Gerreras.

“It was my fault,” Saw stated, teary eyed. “I shot the gunship down, and it crashed into her position.

“Saw, it’s not your fault,” said Lux. “She knew what the risks were. We all knew what it would take to free Onderon.”

Soon, word reached them that the droids have been defeated. Later, a scout told them that King Rash was dead, and that the droid army withdrew from the planet. The rebels traveled back to Iziz and Dendup retook the throne. The new king appointed Lux Bonteri as Onderon’s new Senator. It was decided that Onderon would join the Republic. Later that same day, everyone in the city gathered to mourn the loss of Steela. She’ll be remembered as a hero.

Anakin and Kenobi showed up for the funeral. Mara stood by them while Ahsoka, Saw, and Lux talked. “We need to talk,” Mara whispered to Anakin and Kenobi.

“Remember this day,” Dendup called out. “The day Onderon became free again!” The whole crowd cheered.

When the celebration concluded, Mara and Ahsoka traveled with the rebels back to their base to gather their belongings. Once they got everything, they went onto the Jedi cruiser.

“So, what was it you wanted to talk to us about?” Kenobi asked Mara.

“Micah Miranda made an appearance,” she told the Jedi.

“He did? Did he cause any trouble? Are you okay?” Anakin bombarded her with questions.

“I’m fine. But I’m guessing that that wasn’t planned?” The winged human went out on a limb. 

“No, it was not,” Kenobi stated. “I believe the words Hondo used were, ‘I need to contact a colleague.’”

“I see. Well, leave it to a pirate to know someone you’d rather forget.” Mara stated out the window into the black, trying to let the stars distract her. 

“Indeed.” The Jedi took their leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Le gasp! I brought Micah back and he did nothing but be an annoyance. I’ll think of something else for him at some point. Let me know if you hate him.


	16. (Back)Story Time

It was a week or so after Onderon. Ahsoka said she would take some younglings to this cave for a sacred gathering. They’d be finding their crystals, which is the heart of the saber.

Mara is not a Jedi, and will never wish to be. Even though Ahsoka offered her a chance to go, the winged human declined. She chose to stay, and entertain the younglings instead.

Today, she sat in her usual room in which the younglings bother her about stories. When they finally came in, they were accompanied by Adi Gallia and Kit Fisto. 

As the kids excitedly requested her to tell them a story, Adi chuckled. “They’ve really been missing you, since you went to Onderon,” she told her.

“I’d imagine so,” Mara stated. “I haven’t given them a tale in ages. But I’m afraid I'm running out of tales to tell.” Disappointment seeped out of the younglings.

“Then why don’t you tell them your story?” Kit Fisto suggested. The kids all agreed excitedly.

Mara sat there, wondering what to do. Her own tale is too dark for younglings. Perhaps Max’s tale would fare better. “While I can say that my tale is way too dark for the children, I can tell you of a girl whom I got to know, and her flock. Their tale is in fact, similar to mine, yet it differs in more ways than one.” The children quieted down and seated themselves on the floor. The Jedi planted themselves against the wall, as if they too wanted to hear this story.

“First,” Mara stated. “Some backstory. Just as there is evil in this galaxy, evil lurks in the shadows of my home world, never seen by the general public. Corruption is a seed that is rooted deep on my homeworld. For an unfathomable reason, this certain facility, in which I and Max, and all the others came from, is dubbed “The School.” They created us, they gave us our powers, and taught us how to fight. Well, they taught _me_ how to fight. The others, including Max, were saved when they were young. The flock, as they called themselves, were aided in that escape by a man named Jeb. He took care of them for a number of years before disappearing. Well, to them he disappeared. To me, he went back to work.

“Anyway, flash forward a couple of years, they were living safely, and thought they were safe. Until the Erasers came a-knocking.” The children’s eyes lit up with wonder and fear.

“What are erasers?” Caleb questioned.

“They are wolf-like men that hunt for “The School.” They capture people who’ve run away,” Mara explained. “The flock was living peacefully until _they_ showed up, and took one of their youngest, Angel. Max, Fang and Nudge leave their home in an attempt to rescue Angel, while Iggy and the Gasman are forced to stay behind. Despite Iggy proving himself to be quite capable, he is forced to stay behind because he is blind, and Gazzy was too young. Him and his twin sister Angel, are both six years old. While Max, Fang and Nudge left their home, Iggy and the Gazzy made bombs in order to protect themselves from the Erasers.

“Along their way across the land, Max becomes injured as they are stopped by lake Mead by Erasers. Fang and Nudge become separated from Max. Despite her injured shoulder, the three of them venture on.” It was at this point that Skywalker and Kenobi walked into the room. Mara ignores them as they lean against the wall next to the other Jedi. 

“Then, Max saves this girl named Ella from a group of robbers. In thanks, Ella takes Max and the group to see her mother, Doctor Valencia Martinez. When Dr. Martinez performed an X-ray scan on Max, they discovered that a microchip (described by Dr. Martinez as tracking chips used for important animals such as show dogs) was implanted in Max. Meanwhile, Iggy and the Gazzy made traps for the Erasers and were successful in which they set an armored vehicle overturned, but the Erasers still survived. Both of them were then surrounded by Erasers in an abandoned cabin and used their bomb (known as Big Boy) and flew to Lake Mead.

“While looping back on their course to find Max, Nudge noticed that they were near to Tipisco, where Nudge's parents lived. Upon visiting the location, Fang and Nudge realized that they were in a trap which resulted in Fang being injured by Ari, a seven-year-old boy who was turned into an Eraser and had an appearance as a middle aged man, some time after they had escaped to the mountain home in the beginning. Soon, Max healed and flew to Lake Mead. Max meets Fang and Nudge and later meets Iggy and Gazzy.

“The remaining Flock eventually were captured by the Erasers and were sent to The School. While captured, Angel learns about an Institute, later known as "The Institute of Higher Living", from reading minds (one of her powers), a place in New York City that may hold some secrets to their past.”

“Is New York another planet?” One of the younglings questioned.

Mara smiled. “No, little one. It is a great big city on the coast of one of Earth’s continents. Remember, Earth is alone in the solar system. It is the only planet suitable to sustain life. Anyways, I was there. I saw Max and the others at “The School.” The grown-ups there… made me think they were bad, so I stayed away from the flock. Yet, something was telling me that they were just trying to get by. A friend and I helped them escape, but at the cost of my friend.” Mara just now noticed how quiet the rest of the room was. She paid it no mind.

“As they escaped, Max had a massive headache described as a brain explosion which later theorized as her brain making space for a Voice (other than her own) which pops up in her head. With the Flock unsure of whether the voice is a friend or foe, Max decides to follow its cryptic instruction. The voice leads Max and the Flock to The Institute, where they find a lab similar to The School and information on their unknown parents. At the Institute, the Flock also found several mutants and set them free. Angel then brings a pet dog named Total with her and escapes with the Flock. As they escape, Max has to fight with Ari, one of the Erasers who’s been chasing her, and wins. The Flock then begins their journey to Washington D.C., in search of their parents…” Plo Koon appeared and silently told Mara that it was time for the younglings to go. “and that, it seems, is all there is time for.” The younglings begrudgingly got up from their spots on the floor and followed Plo Koon out.

“Mast Skywalker, I must confess that I didn’t expect you to come,” Mara stated. 

“Well, after what Rex and the other Jedi masters have told me about your story telling, I had to check it out. That was quite the story,” Anakin stated as he walked up to the teen. “If you were involved in the tale yourself, then why did you tell it from a different perspective?”

“I was on the wrong side of things,” the winged teen answered him as she stood. “For most of their tale, in fact. You know, my friend and I tried to escape with them. We were caught. I tried to save her life, saying that it was my idea.” A tear started forming in her eyes. “And they killed her anyway as a lesson for me.”

“Is that why you said your own tale was too dark?” Adi asked.

“Yes,” she took wandering steps. “In a way, Max and the flock were saved from what I had endured as a youngun. Just barely so, however.”

“How old were you, in this tale?” Obi-wan asked.

“Thirteen. Well, wait... how long have I been here?”

”Just over a year.”

“Oh, okay, I guess I’m eighteen now.” She smiled, knowing that her birthday had passed her by without her realization.

“It was somewhat recent then,” Kit Fisto gathered. “Five years?”

“Yes. I suppose it was.”

“I believe you’ve recounted along the lines of twenty or so stories,” Adi brought up. “That’s a lot for someone to remember.”

“Yes, it is. I store everything I want to remember in my mind using a memory technique called a mind palace. It's quite effective.”

—————

It wasn’t until the next day, that Mara was able to continue Max’s story. The younglings excitedly gathered around the Shaper of stories with anticipation. This time, they were accompanied by Plo Koon. He, like the Jedi before him, planted himself against the wall and listened.

“Now, where were we?” Mara questioned no one in particular.

“They were headed to D.C.,” one of the younglings answered her.

“You are quite right, young one,” the winged teen claimed. “Now, I warn you, children. The following involves a dark part of the story. Even now, I’m considering how to block it out. Yet, I realize, that cannot be done. If you wish to leave now, I understand.” None of them moved, so she decided to get on with the story.

“Very well then. The Flock is headed toward Washington, D.C., where they hope to find the answers to their origins. However, after Fang is gravely injured by a flying Eraser and taken to a hospital, the Flock is housed by an FBI agent named Anne on the agreement that she is allowed to examine them ‘at a distance.’”

“What’s the FBI?” One of the younglings asked her.

“FBI stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation. They’re like the police, but have more power. Anyway, The Flock enjoys a rare period of peace, even attending a private school. Not The School, just a general place of learning for kids. Life is good to them for now, as Max sees it, but they happen to be seeing Erasers often and their relationships in the Flock with each other are starting emotions that sometimes spill over and cause fights. 

“Suddenly, though, Iggy finds his long lost parents, but is saddened greatly, because they were trying to make money off of him. So, he runs away from them and rejoins the flock. An ordeal at their school in which teachers pull out tasers and chase Max, causing the Flock to leave. Anne reveals herself as someone actually working for The School, however, as she works with the Erasers to recapture them. That school is discovered to have been an insane asylum. A place where the insane go. 

“Angel then suggests that they go to Florida, and for lack of a better plan, Max agrees. Later on, while in Florida, the Flock learns that a multinational corporation named Itex is plotting to destroy the world, based on what Angel "overheard" some teachers thinking about being one of the company's able to destroy the world, and is also tracking the Flock's movements.

“Afterward, Max faces a clone of herself created by Itex, and she is destined to either destroy it or have it kill her. However, when she discovers that Itex created the clone to kill the original Max, she decides not to destroy the clone after a long battle to the death in the Itex Headquarters. In the end, the flock wakes up in a room, tied down to beds. They realize they are in The School. They are told that the last six months have been all a dream.” She made the last few words sound very ominous before pausing for dramatic effect. The children’s eyes went wide.

“And then what?” Asked Caleb, eager for the next part.

“In a shocking twist of events, Angel is not with them when they wake up. Now, remember Jeb? The nice man who took care of them before Angel was initially captured?” A few of them nodded. “When I said he went back to work, I meant that he was working for The School all along.”

“Really?” Asked a youngling.

“Really,” Mara confirmed. “Anyway, while they’re in their whole dream land, I have been loaned to this company called Itex. They plan on cutting the world's population in half, and have already terminated a majority of their recombinant life forms. They had robotic Erasers that could fly. Although, those ones were called Flyboys. I carried out certain missions for Itex. Missions that I will not discuss.” The kids sounded disappointed.

“Angel had, in a sense,” she used air quotes, “‘switched sides,’ and noted this fact out loud to the flock when they were recaptured by the Flyboys. 

“When they get back to the School, Jeb tries to convince them that everything they've ever experienced is just a dream and that it's now time for them to be ‘retired.’ Fang refuses to believe him. Ari, Jeb's son and the flock's worst enemy, suddenly becomes very nice to Max. He shows her that his expiration date has come up; this is a tattoo like patch that appears on the back of their necks to tell them that they are going to die soon.” A few of the younglings softly gasped.

“Right before the flock is retired, they find a way to escape. Angel was just pretending to be on Itex's side, and uses this to her advantage. Max brings Ari with them, although most of the flock is very against it, and get really angry. They end up spending the night in a cabin, and Max and Fang get into a big feud about Ari being there. Fang decides to split up the flock. Max, Nudge, Ari, and Angel go their way while Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy go another way.

“Max's flock heads to Europe to take down Itex from its roots, while Fang is trying to get his blog readers to help fight back in the US. Max and her gang get captured, though, so she emails Fang to get help for them in Germany. It's revealed that Jeb is Max's father, and Dr. Martinez is her mother… crazy, right?”

All of a sudden, the door slides open. Ahsoka quietly walks in and looks at Mara apologetically. The winged human’s smile signifies that it’s okay. The Togruta decides to take a seat.

Miss Gyr then looks to the Jedi Master in the room. “How are we for time?”

“As much as this story is enticing, I do believe it is time for them to get back to training,” Plo Koon admitted.

Mara stood and walked towards the door. “Deepest apologies children,” she said to them. “We shall reconvene tomorrow, okay? I promise.”

Ahsoka followed her. “So, what story was it this time?” The Padawan asked her as she caught up with her friend.

“One, that I rather think you’ll enjoy. Surprisingly, The other Jedi Masters rather enjoy it.”

“Oh?”

—————

“So, wait, why are you telling this from Max’s point of view?” Tano asked her friend. The two of them sat in a cafeteria. Apparently the Togruta hasn’t eaten anything in 28 hours.

“Because I was on the wrong side of things. While the Flock made their escape years ago, with the help of Jeb, I remained and became one of their weapons.”

“Oh, I see. But sure you can’t know all that by just the data files and your own experience, right?”

“Right. After everything, I finally managed to escape, and I seeked them out, wishing to be sheltered, to never be a part of The School ever again. Only Iggy and I grew close. Then, the erasers came and I escaped into a wormhole… all the way out here.”

“Don’t you miss them? Him?”

“Well, after months, I think I’m starting to… I don’t usually like to imagine this, but now I can’t help but think how worried they must feel about me. But, I have made up my mind never to return to Earth. Too much pain. Too much killing. At least here, I’m not hiding from the world and continuously running away from my captors.” Mara sighed and thought better of keeping Ahsoka in the dark about the incident on Mortis. “The Son offered it to me when I first met him. You know, on Mortis. He offered me a chance at life back on Earth. One that would be completely normal. I’d have parents, I’d be going to school… I declined his offer because I didn’t want to return to a world that wasn’t like the one I grew up in. It’s sad, isn’t it?”

“Maybe, but after everything you’ve told me, I respect your decision.”

“You do?”

“Yeah. I can’t possibly put it into exact context with my own life, but I can get close. I am among the only few Togruta in the Jedi Order, but my home planet is reachable.”

“Yeah, I suppose so.

  
  
  



	17. The Lawless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayyyy I’m back with another chapter y’all. Really hope you’re enjoying this fic.

Mara approached Kenobi in the streets of the city. She’s heard whispers that a rebellion has taken place on Mandalore via Death Watch. Satine has been captured and the former prime minister was reinstated. Mara also heard that the Duchess sent a message directly to Kenobi. 

Once she spotted him, she walked to his side. “I heard about the transmission,” she told him.

“Did you now?” the Jedi master questioned.

“We both know that the Senate would not allow you to intervene. It is a neutral planet, afterall.”

Neither of them looked at each other as their conversation made their way to the docks. “Your point?”

“I know you're going to help her, and I want to come.” He stopped in his movements and turned to her. She did the same.

“While I appreciate your offer, I don’t want to drag you into this. Besides, where you go, Ahsoka seems to follow, and vice versa.”

“I’m not a part of the order, remember? I just live here. Besides, she doesn’t know what I’m doing.” He began to walk again but she stopped the man. “I want to help. And there are people there I would like to check up on.”

Kenobi sighed. “Fine, you can come.”

“Thank you.”

__________

They landed Anakin’s ship with slight difficulty. “That’s the last time I borrow a ship from you, Anakin,” Kenobi muttered under his breath. He wore the bounty hunter outfit of Rako Hardeen. Mara had just put on her cloak. Her nearly 10 foot wings pressed flat up against her back.

Kenobi went outside and lured in one of the Deathwatch guards. Mara was the one to knock him out. The jedi then switched armors. The two of them walked out with her arms wrapped around his. “Oh, thank you good sir for rescuing me,” she stated in a slightly projected voice. The two of them got onto one of their speeders and was off. 

It’s been a long while since she’s been to this planet. Over a year to be exact. By exactly how much over a year, she wasn’t sure. Korkie and the others would probably have graduated by now. She hoped that they were still alive. Yet she suspected that to be unlikely.

They found the prison and Kenobi went inside to retrieve the Duchess while Mara waited outside. She did not talk to the guards who stood watch. A few minutes later, Kenobi and the Duchess emerged, running and under fire.

“Time to go, Mara,” Kenobi said as he got onto the speeder with Satine.

“On it sir,” the winged human told as she pressed a few buttons. With that, they were on the run from Death Watch.

“Miss Gyr?” Satine recognized. “Does that mean that Padawan Tano is here as well?” 

“No, Ma’am. It’s just Kenobi and I.”

“I see.”

They sped through the city, under fire from Death Watch. Kenobi fought them off as best he could. Once they were back near the ship, Mara closed the hatch after them. Kenobi had to hit the weapons button in order for it to work. Heavy gunfire from the ship did little to stop Death Watch from firing.

“We’ll have to contact my sister for help,” the duchess stated as Kenobi managed to get the scapecraft off the platform.

“Who’s your sister?” the Jedi questioned. 

“I’ll explain when we get there.”

“Incoming rockets,” Mara stated as she looked at the scanners.

“Brace yourself,” Kenobi half-shouted.

“The wings have taken heavy damage,” Mara informed. “This ship is no longer stable, we have to get out of here.”

The three of them rushed to the hatch and jumped out as the ship exploded.

When the dust cleared, Death Watch stood there, waiting. There was something else. Something darker. “No, it can’t be,” Kenobi muttered weakly. A red and black figure with horns emerged. He was followed by a taller man of the same species, but he was yellow and black. The Jedi master stood up with minimum difficulty, and was immediately choked by the red guy. By the force, his body was brought to him. His lightsaber dropped. “We meet again, Kenobi. Welcome to my world.”

The taller man picked the Duchess up while one of Death Watch forcefully moved Mara to her feet. She was able enough to break free from them, but the other two weren’t. What the hell? The girl tripped and twisted the Mandalorian’s arm before grabbed his gun, pointing it at him. Slowly, she backed away from the group. “No one move,” she commanded. The sound of guns cocking hit her ears.

“Ah, and what have we here?” the red man questioned. His voice was icy and almost quiet.

“Just a girl,” she answered before pushing the Mandalorian to the others and making her escape. The teen shed her cloak and ran. Mara evaded the lazers being shot at her with the help of her telekinesis and flew off.

“Let her go, you can search for her later,” the red man said.

When Mara was out of reach from them, she noticed another Mandalorian walk up to her. She was clad in blue armor. A contrast to Death Watch. “Who are you?” she questioned the woman. 

“Someone who can help you,” she answered. “I saw you aid the Jedi.” She dared to step closer.

“So?” the teen thought to keep her distance.

“I know you’re here to rescue the Duchess. My men and I are here to help.”

“What makes you think I can trust you?”

“Korkie and his friends asked me to do the same. He mentioned a girl of your description with strange powers, and noted that you were not a Jedi despite these powers.”

Mara’s eyes squinted with suspicion at the mention of her former students. “And?”

The woman’s hands held themselves together behind her back. “Korkie and his friends died trying to save his aunt.”

“I see.” She tried to hide her sadness.

“Come now, we don’t have that much time to save the Jedi.” With that, the Mandalorian woman sped off in her jet pack. Intrigued, Mara followed her, spreading out her wings. 

As they stealthily flew through the city, the woman got a message on her comlink that Kenobi was to be moved into the prison. They got there in the knick of time, knocking out and shooting down the guards. 

“Mara, who’s this?” asked Kenobi as the teen went to grab his lightsaber. He gave her a strange look after he noticed her wings dragging on the floor.

“Hell if I know,” Mara answered as she cut her friend loose. “But she’s here to help.”

“The name’s Bo-Katan,” the woman stated. “I _am_ here to help you guys and that’s all you need to know.”

“Sounds good to me,” Kenobi accepted. He rolled his wrists before taking his saber back from the teen.

Other Mandalorians with the same sort of coloring and marking on their helmets came down. Probably as guards. Bo-Katan handed the Jedi a jet pack. “Ever used one of these?” she asked him. The woman asked him as she placed one on his back.

“No, but in this case, I’m a fast learner.”

They surveyed the area quickly before leaving. Mara swatted away the feeling of self consciousness. She was the only one who didn’t need a jetpack after all. 

They may have been fleeing, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. A small band of Death Watch went after them. Gunfire was exchanged between the two groups as Mara and the others made their way to the docks.

Before they could make it, the hanger door leading there was closed. Kenobi and Mara worked to get it open while the others fought off Death Watch.

When they did get it open, they saw blaster fire being shot out almost every which way. The Mandalorians on their side managed to shake off Death Watch, as Bo-Karan was behind him when she remarked, “Darth Maul must really want you dead.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” Kenobi responded.

They made their way through the battlefield, explosions sounded all around them. Mara had to dodge and deflect a lot more lasers than on Onderon. 

Finally, the three of them went to a ship. Bo instructed both of them to get on and go to the Republic.

“But that would start an invasion,” Kenobi protested.

“And Maul would be dead,” she countered, firing her blaster at some of Death Watch. “But Mandalore will survive. We always survive. Now go.”

The two of them were about to leave when Mara stopped. “You’re Satine’s sister, aren’t you?” She asked the woman. “And Korke’s mother?”

No-Katan peered at the eighteen-year-old. “Her sister, yes. But Korke is my nephew. We had another sibling.” Somehow, Mara almost didn’t believe her.

Tears started to form in Kenobi’s eyes as he said, “I’m so sorry.” She paused for a minute before taking aim and shooting again. The Jedi and the girl fully entered the ship.

“So, what will we do?” Mara questioned him.

“I’m not sure,” he told him. He looked as if he sensed something dark. Either that, or he was still grieving the loss of the Duchess. Mara knee then, that he must have loved her.

—————

The Nite Owl ship dropped them off at a port in a nearby system. From there, they were on their own. “Do you have any money with you?” Mara asked him as she folded her wings flat across her back. “Because I don’t, and I think you might be needing new clothes.”

“I do, and I do,” the Jedi answered. “Don’t forget, we also need to buy a ship.”

“Of course.” The atmosphere of the planet was tropical.

They walked around, glancing at the market. Various food stands were present, as well as some clothing stores. They stopped at the third one they saw for Obi-wan to select some new clothes. He didn’t trash the Mandalorian armor, however, calling it valuable. To carry the pieces around, he bought a bag. 

A few minutes later, they found a ship dealer. Kenobi negotiated a good price for a boat too. Without a hitch, they were in the blackness of space in no time. The journey back to Coruscant was almost silent. 

—————

When they arrived, they had not discussed what to do with the state that Mandalore was in. Mara suspected that would do nothing. She didn’t want to pry, however, so she left it at that.

—————

During all her time in the temple, she had somehow never really explored the full depth of the building. Wanting to explore, she didn’t go to her room. 

In no time at all she had found herself in a hangar filled with clones, Jedi and temple workers. That’s when it happened. The explosion. She was really close to the bomb too. She could feel her flesh burning and aching. Her vision blurred into blackness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dun dun dunnnnn.


	18. The Wrong Jedi

When Mara awoke, she found herself in the medbay, laying on one of the beds. She turned her head to find Obi-wan sitting. He breathed out a sigh of relief. “Good. You’re awake. I was beginning to think you wouldn’t make it.” She could barely hear him over the ringing in her ears.

“Come on Kenobi, do you really think-“ something about her voice sounded different. Her throat felt scratchy, and dry.

She tried to sit up, but was pushed back down by Kenobi. “Despite your fast healing, you’re still recovering.”

She groaned in frustration. “How long was I out?” She asked him. He handed her the glass of water that sat on the table. The teen took small sips.

“Six days.”

“Six days?” She shot you and immediately regretted it. Mara groaned in pain, clutching her side. “What happened?” She asked as she handed back the glass.

“One of the workers was fed nanobots and exploded in the hanger… and…”

“And? And what?” Mara was beginning to worry about the Jedi’s hesitation.

He sighed. “Ahsoka may or may not have murdered the one responsible for feeding him the nanobots.”

“What?!”

“She’s on the run now. Skywalker and Master Plo are searching for her as we speak.”

All of a sudden, she remembered her wings. Her eyes widened as she attempted to stretch them out. The young woman whimpered. Kenobi advised against it, but when she turned to see the state of them, she wept. The feathers were all messed up, some spots were missing. The frame was bruised.

“Did I lose any limbs?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. Tears barreled their way down her face. The Jedi leaned closer in order to wipe away the salty clear liquid.

“Well, thanks to three days in a bacta tank and your super healing, your left foot is quite alright. Your translator did get damaged, but we had R2 repair it for you for when you awoke.”

“I see. Thank you.” An uncomfortably comfortable silence came between them before Mara asked, “Could you get me my iPod?” She didn’t want to welcome pain’s return. 

“Of course.” The ginger haired man left. 

She tried not to let her mind wander, but it did anyway.  _ Why did she have to go back to Mandalore with Kenobi? Why couldn’t she have just stayed at the temple? Would that have even mattered? She knew that there weren’t many places she’s been in Coruscant, despite her basing herself there. If she had walked down a different corridor would it have mattered? Would she be safely lying in her own bed? Why did that stupid portal drop her off here? Why couldn’t it have left her alone? Then she would be fine, in her homeworld. She’s been over this too many gorram times! She always wonders how they’re doing on the side. She always worries about Iggy and Nudge. Why can’t-- _

Fifteen minutes later, he came back with the device. Mara heard his voice before he entered the room. The Jedi spoke to the council via comlink. He placed the earbuds in her ears and quickly scrolled through the songs. Before she could choose one, Kenobi got up again. “I hope you’ll excuse me. I have council duties to attend to. They found Ahsoka.”

Mara nodded, signifying it was okay for him to leave. The young woman chose happy songs to try to keep her mind off of the pain and the sorrow. The volume was turned up to high, drowning out the ringing.

—————

Over the next two days, She had listened to about 100 songs on her iPod, trying not to think negative thoughts or dwell on the past. Some of the songs were repeated, however. She sang along to some of the songs as well. No doubt the people roaming outside her room in the medbay could hear. Mara saw the glass window vibrating at some point. Even when she isn’t trying to use her power, she does so anyway.

On the second day, Kenobi showed up with something equivalent to a wheelchair. “What is that?” Mara asked him, slowly sitting up. 

“It’s a hover chair,” Obi explained. “I assume you want to watch Ahsoka’s Senate trial?”

Her eyes widened. “She’s being tried by the Senate? Who’s her representative?”

“Senator Amidala.” The man moves to help her get off the bed. 

“I appreciate the hover chair, but don’t you have crutches or anything like that?” Her bare feet had not yet touched the ground. He let her stand on her own, and seemed to do fine, but when she tried to take a step forward, she almost fell. 

“It seems as though both of your legs are still healing,” the man answered, helping her to the chair. “Let’s be on our way.”

Once in the courtroom, she saw the other Jedi Masters, also in the audience. Chancellor Palpatine appeared to be the judge. The room was large. A central platform was most likely there for the person on trial while two other platforms on either side were to probably act as the prosecutor’s side, and the defense side. The judges platform stood higher than the other three. Some audience rows were filled with members of the senate, by the Jedi, and Mara. The walls were grey speckled with lights. The young woman feared that if she were to fall, she’d never hit the floor. Once Ahsoka arrived, Amidala appeared as her defense while Tarkin appeared as her prosecutor.

Palpatine stepped closer to the edge of his platform. “Ahsoka Tano.” His voice echoed in the vast room. “You have been charged with sedition against the Jedi Order and the Republic itself. This court will decide your fate. Prosecution,” he gestured to Tarkin. “You May begin your agreements.”

The military man walked down the platform towards Ahsoka. “Former Padawan Tano,” he began. “I shall prove that you were the mastermind behind the attack on the Jedi Temple and that once your accomplices carried out your orders, you eliminated them one by one. When you are found guilty, I ask the court that the full extent of the law be brought down upon you, including the penalty of death.”

Mara’s eyes widened. She hoped that Senator Amidala could help her. “Look at the facts,” the Senator stated. “Letta Turmond called Ahsoka to her cell to reveal the name of the true mastermind behind the bombing of the Jedi Temple. Letta told Ahsoka she was afraid. She told her the mastermind was a Jedi, and before she could reveal the Jedi’s name, Letta Turmond was strangled to death by way of the force. Why would Ahsoka kill Letta with a method that would so obviously tie the murder to her? A jedi may be responsible for the murder, but that Jedi is  _ not  _ Ahsoka Tano. Members of the court, you are prosecuting the  _ wrong  _ Jedi.”

Ahsoka almost looked dejected. “Well said, Senator Amidala,” Tarkin said as he slow-clapped. His hands then were gathered behind him. “However, if she is innocent, then why was she conspiring with a known Separatist terrorist, Asaj Ventress?”

“Ventress set me up, my master will prove that,” Ahsoka told him.

“And where is your master?” he questioned.

“He’s trying to find the real murderer.”

“Then maybe he should be looking at you.”

“Order, Tarkin,” the Chancellor called out. “I’m sure many of you look at this former Jedi and think, ‘Surely she cannot be this murderer or saboteur that they speak of,’ and yet think of all the times we have been fooled by the Separatists, and how they have infiltrated the Republic, and ask yourself, ‘Is this yet another Sepretist scheme?’ Another way to rip the Jedi, and subsequently all of us, apart.”

About an hour later, the members of the court reached a decision. They sent it over to Palpatine’s right hand man, who gave it to the Chancellor. The old man stood. “Ahsoka Tano, by an overwhelming count of--”

“Chancellor!” Anakin called out. His hand was raised in an effort to stop him. A handful of temple guards accompanied him. 

“I hope you have a reason for bursting into our proceedings, Master Skywalker,” the Chancellor addressed. 

Anakin and the guards walked down the floating platform. It was then revealed that someone else was with them. “I’m here with evidence and a confession from the person responsible for all of the crimes Ahsoka has been accused of.” He stepped out of the way, as did the rest of guards to reveal Barriss. He said her name and title with anger clear in his voice. 

“Barriss, is that true?” Ahsoka asked her, hoping that it wouldn’t be true.

“Tell them the truth,” Anakin urged menacingly. 

Barriss stepped forward. “I did it,” she admitted, “because I have come to realize what many people in the Republic have come to realize, that the  _ Jedi  _ are the ones responsible for this war, that we’ve so lost our way that we have become  _ villains _ in this conflict. That  _ we  _ are the ones that should be put on trial, all of us! And my attack on the Temple was an attack on what the Jedi have become: an army fighting for the dark side. Fallen from the light that we once held so dear. This republic is failing! It’s only a matter of time.” Anakin pulled her aside. They both stepped backwards.

“Take her away,” Palpatine ordered.

Mara has never seen Ahsoka this dejected. She was free now, but something strange was in the air. Something foul. 

__________

Kenobi offered to take her back to the medical wing so that she could rest, but she refused. Mara decided to stay right by the entrance steps. The council would most likely be reinstating her into the order. Somehow, Mara knew that she wouldn’t accept it. She saw her in the courtroom, how broken and confused she must have felt at Barriss’ statement.

When Ahsoka came out, Mara spoke. “I thought you’d choose this path.” The former Padawan turned her head to find her friend and found her in a hover chair.

“Shouldn’t you be-” Ahsoka tried, but she was interrupted. Concern showed in her eyes.

“I should. But I wanted to say goodbye.” The open air provided a strange silence that Mara liked. But she wanted to ask, “Where will you go?”

Ahsoka averted her gaze for a moment, saying, “I’m not sure.”

The human shrugged. “I’d say that I’d go with you, but I can’t exactly be moved at the moment. I can barely stand, never mind flying.”

“I guess this is goodbye then.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

The Togruta walked a few steps forward. Anakin was now calling after her. It was only until he caught up to her that she kept walking. “Ahsoka, please. I need to talk to you!” Slowly, and wordlessly, she turned around. “Why are you doing this?” Anakin asked her. His voice was breathless.

“The council didn’t trust me,” Tano told him. “So how can I trust myself?” SHe looked away from him. Her arms began to cross.

“What about me?” Anakin asked, gesturing to himself. “I believed in you. I stood by you.”

“I know you believe in me, Anakin,” she turned towards him again. “And I’m grateful for that. But this isn’t about you. I can’t stay here any longer. Not now.” She was about to walk away.

Anakin spoke again. “The Jedi Order is your life. You can’t just throw it away like this. Ahsoka, you are making a mistake.”

“Maybe, but I have to sort this out on my own, without the council, and without you.”

“I understand,” Anakin sighed. “More than you realize, I understand wanting to walk away from the order.”

“I know.”

Anakin looked at her as she walked away. Down the steps and out of sight. Anakin turned to Mara. “Not going with her?” 

“Can’t be moved. Besides, I don’t have my things ready… and the younglings would be devastated. Not to mention, there are still some things that I need to do.” The winged human turned her hover chair around. It began floating away, back inside the temple. She knew that Anakin would stay out for a little while longer. She stopped the chair to say one last thing. “If you want to talk, you’ll know where to find me.”


	19. O Children

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it. The only chapter I’m doing on season six.

It’s only been three days since Ahsoka left. Anakin was called back to battle. Mara has gotten some visitors. Kenobi, along with some of the other Jedi Masters, as well as some of the younglings have gone to visit her. Thanks to her fast healing, she’s recovering well. New feathers have grown in the place of destroyed ones. She’s also earned crutches.

Now, she can positively say that she’s gone through most of her songs. Today, she is able to be discharged, but her legs still haven’t quite healed.

Moving through the hallways, some of the younglings came up to her. “Miss Gyr, you're out of the Medbay?!” they asked excitedly. They looked to be about ten. She remembers that they are friends with Caleb Dume, another one of the younglings around their age. Mara's sure he could become a padawan learner soon.

The teen leaned forward. “Yes, I am. But I cannot cannot stand. I’ll have to go back to the medbay for a few more days,” she answered them. Yes, she was still very much in her hover chair.

“Will you still be able to tell us stories?” one of them asked.

“Yes, of course, I will.” quickly, she checked the area. “Are you both supposed to be somewhere?” They took the long way in answering. “Then, you best be off. I wouldn’t want your Jedi teachers to be mad at us.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” With that, they were off. She smiled at them as she traveled back to her room.

On her way there, she spotted Anakin. He walked not seeing what was in front of him. His mind seemed to be clouded with something. “Something in your mind, Skywalker?” She asked him.

He stopped in his tracks and walked towards Mara. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Have you heard anything about Fives?”

“No… should I have?”

“Well, he said the strangest thing. He said that the Chancellor was behind some secret plot. It had something to do with the inhibitor chips.”

Mara shifted her weight in the chair. “Interesting. And where is he now?”

“He’s dead. In fact, he was on the run because of this conspiracy. Honestly, I don’t know if I believe him.”

“Huh, well, I don’t know what to tell ya. Has the Chancellor given any indication as to whether or not it’s true?” Stupid question, she knew that. The person in power will almost always claim that they are not in the wrong. Almost always, it’s the way in which they say it that decides their fate. Mara wondered why the Jedi was asking about him in the first place. 

“Not that I can tell.”

Inwardly she frowned. “Alright, well, I’ll see you around.” They smiled at each other and parted ways.

—————

Well, she was going to go back to her quarters, but now she thinks she needs to head down to the clone barracks.

Once she made her way down there, Mara asked for Rex. The young woman found the clone sitting on a crate with his helmet off. He stared at the piece of armor dejectedly.   
  


He must have notice her presence because he said, “She didn’t even say goodbye to me.”

Mara’s facial features softened as she hovered over to the soldier. “I know.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. As they locked eyes, she gave him the saddest of smiles before standing and hugging him. The tears gathering in his eyes spilled over. They stayed that way for a while.

—————

That was a few days ago. Since then, Mara has heard of Amidala’s run-in with the Banking Clan. Since then, she has been able to move to crutches. Since then, she was able to be there for the children during their breaks. Telling stories as she would normally do. Mara has been able to complete the story cut short by her little excursion on Mandalore. 

For the past few days, Mara’s felt a strange sense of loneliness here. She is a guest and an occasional consultant on missions. Her one and only true friend in all this has left. Mara has remained here, recovering from the explosion.

Where would she even start to look for Ahsoka? There’s been no contact between the two of them. Could she be off-world? It seemed pretty bloody likely, but you never know.

In her room, she sat on the bed listening to Nick Cave’s O Children. Mara couldn’t help but sing along. There was something terribly upbeat about it. In all honesty, she doesn’t really know what the song means. It could be about this man named Jim who committed suicide. Or, it could be about the older generation screwing up, leaving the younger generation to fix it. 

—————

Kenobi walked through the halls. Something was pulling him towards the living quarters. He had just had a conversation with Anakin about Clovis. That’s when he heard it. Mara’s belting voice. There was a softness to the words this time, unlike most of the time he heard her singing in the medical wing. He remembers hearing Mara pouring her soul into her songs. The teen never repeated the same song twice, not usually. Now, she sang in falsetto. A quiet falsetto. He always felt drawn to her singing. He couldn’t quite explain it. She had the voice of an angel, and wings to prove her excellency. He’s somehow always pitied and admired her, how she sang through her sorrow in the medbay. He could hear her lyrics loud and clear.

“We have the answer to all your fears. It’s short, it's simple, it’s crystal clear. It’s round about and it’s somewhere here, lost amongst our winnings. Ohhh Children. Lift up your voice. Lift up your voice. Children. Rejoice, rejoice.”

Something was inviting him to come listen. The emotional tug of her words. It confused him. The melancholy wistful presence. Her voice haunted the halls beautifully.

“The cleaners have done their job on you. They're hip to it, man, they're in the groove. They've hosed you down, you're good as new. They're lining up to inspect you. O children. Poor old Jim's white as a ghost. He's found the answer that we lost. We're all weeping now, weeping because, there ain't nothing we can do to protect you. O children. Lift up your voice, lift up your voice. Children. Rejoice, rejoice.”

He was closer to her room now. Noting to keep quiet, unwilling to kill the peace.

“Hey little train! We are all jumping on. The train that goes to the Kingdom. We're happy, Ma, we're having fun. And the train ain't even left the station. Hey, little train! Wait for me! I once was blind but now I see. Have you left a seat for me? Is that such a stretch of the imagination? Hey little train! Wait for me! I was held in chains but now I'm free. I'm hanging in there, don't you see? In this process of elimination. Hey little train! We are all jumping on. The train that goes to the Kingdom. We're happy, Ma, we're having fun. It's beyond my wildest expectation. Hey little train! We are all jumping on. The train that goes to the Kingdom. We're happy, Ma, we're having fun. And the train ain't even left the station.”

A desperation showed in her voice. It’s meaning he could not quite catch. He found himself leaning against the wall near her doorway. In a way, he’s also felt sorry for her. She lost her ability to fly for a good few weeks all due to an explosion. Her friend has left her, and all she’s doing about both of those things is sitting around a sulking. Well, she did just finish her tale of Maximum Ride to the children the other day, so he supposed that that is an improvement.

Suddenly, her door slides open. “Yes?” She asked Kenobi.

“Uh, nothing,” answered Obi-wan. “I’m not even sure why I’m here.” She tilted her head to the side slightly, confused.

She then brushed it off. “Probably one of your Jedi feelings. I’m OK, Kenobi.”

“So it would seem.” He didn't really believe her, but he knew she'd shut down if he pryed.

With that, he was off.

—————

Mara chose to spend a few hours meditating. She turned a small block of hers into a floating liquid. It circled her above her head. It’s circumference too large to fit on her head if dropped. Into her mind palace, she went. Just to have a look around. 

The exterior looked like a great hall. A circular dome with hallways stretching out almost infinitely. Her ever-growing hallway of Jedi knowledge stretched before her. It needed to be updated. The other three hallways were full of the knowledge of Maximum Ride and her flock, The School, and General galaxy knowledge.

Each room is of a different person or planet. The Jedi as a whole have a gigantic room all together. She walked towards that room. When she opened the door, she implemented her knowledge of the trial that took place. Mara envisioned a box that she placed near the Padawan file cabinet. She then duplicated the box and stored it in Ahsoka’s room.

Mara then wandered the halls almost aimlessly. Trying to find anything else that needed updating, or if anything was missing. Unsurprisingly, she didn’t find anything. It didn't surprise her that some of the locked rooms rattled. What she stored in there was threatening to get out. The winged human didn't care at the moment on whether or not what was trying to get out was metaphysical, or if it was some memory of a terrifying thing or being. Those kinds of doors always rattled. She could never get them to stop. 

Suddenly, a door at the end of the hallway was leaking sunshine. Some leaves made their way through, under the door. Walking up to the wood--it’s a spruce door unlike the others, most of the new ones were metal now, and this door isn’t new at all--she saw the name Peter. Cautiously, she opened the door. 

Memories flooded through her mind. Just them flying around the forest during free time. They would always go to this one particular waterfall in the base in Alaska. It was their spot to talk freely. He had the wings of a peregrine falcon. Everything was happy between them. That is, until the scientists at The School had them race against each other. This wouldn’t be like all their times frolecing in the woods. This one held praise and consequence. Mara ended up winning. Out of the pair, she was called the “better one” by all of the scientists from that point on. Peter tried not to let this create a rift in their relationship, but she could tell it was eating away at him.

Then, when they were moved to the California institute, she met Max’s flock for the first time. They both did. Their handlers would always tell them to steer clear of them. “Why?” They would ask. “They’re just like us.” It wasn’t until they snuck into the room after dark just to talk to them, that they all hatched an escape plan. 

Said plan ended up going very well for the flock. However, not so much for Mara and Peter. The boy thought he should protect the “better one” by saying that he came up with the plan. Mara kicked and screamed at the adults, begging for them not to kill him. That she was the one who came up with the plan instead. This was true, the plan was mostly her idea. In spite of this, they shot Peter dead anyway as a lesson for her never to defy them again.

As heart broken as she was, this only made her want to break away from them more. One day, after a few years, she did, and came to the Flock for refuge. This, they reluctantly gave her. There was some point during a moment of peace where she gave herself a tattoo on her left ankle. It was small, but it depicted two birds as if they were playing with each other, flying around one another. One was Peter, a peregrine falcon, while the other was herself, a gyrfalcon.

A small smile crept on her lips in the realization that no one in the Jedi Order, or the Clone forces, or anywhere in this galaxy, have seen her tattoo.

Slowly, she exited her mind palace.


	20. The Bad Batch and Echo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it folks. The three episodes of season seven condensed into one chapter. Again, like the last time this happened, I don’t know how it happened. Just kept writing. Anyway, on with the story...

It’s been seven months since Ahsoka left the order. Mara has long since healed. She’s checked whenever she could about the Togruta’s whereabouts. Anakin has too. Although, she hasn’t exactly liked Anakin’s growing mullet.

During the past week, she’s been on Anaxes with Skywalker and Windu. It wouldn’t be the first time since Ahsoka’s leaving that she’s been to a battle field. The Senate has only rumors of hre existence. She still doesn’t really want to be in the public eye. Anyway, the battle on Anaxes is fleeting the Jedi, and the Republic. Secretly, she’s been doing stealth missions for the Order.

Today, she was accompanying Anakin as he and Windu went over plans. A hologram of the layout of this factory. “The droids have overrun our main production factory,” Windu spoke. “It won’t be long before the Separatists take Anaxes, compromising our entire reserve fleet.”

“Pardon the interruption, general,” Cody stated as he and Rex walked up to them. “But Rex here has a good theory on why we keep, uh… losing.”

Mara turned to face the clones, stepping aside. Her and Anakin’s captain nodded to each other. Rex walked up to the table. “By all means, captain,” Windu allowed.

He changed the hologram to something that looked like one of Rex’s tactics. “The droid army uses analytics to predict our strategy,” Rex spoke. “The first time we use a tactic, it’s very effective. The next, less so. In fact, the more we use a certain tactic, the less effective it becomes. They learn our tendencies and use that data against us. To counter them, we’re constantly working out ways to vary our attack.”

“But the losses we are experiencing on Anaxes are not commonplace,” Windu brought up.

“Exactly,” Rex countered. “The counter attacks are so specific,” he punched in something on the holo display. The holograms disappeared. “It’s my strategy the droids know, my playbook.”

“My concern,” Cody spoke, “Is that Rex is one of our best. If the droids can learn to defeat him, we may all be vulnerable.”

“So then, what do you propose?” Mara questioned.

“Let Rex and me take a small squad behind enemy lines. There’s a Separatist Cyber Center which relays all battlefield intel to their command ship. If we’re going to find anything, it will be there.”

“If you think it will help turn this fight around, get going,” Mace ordered.

“Thank you, General,” Rex stated. 

“Rex, is there anything else?” Anakin asked him. He was quiet for almost the entire exchange. Mara was beginning to worry.

“No, General,” Rex responded.

Perhaps that was why he was keeping quiet. Skywalker sensed that he could be hiding something.

“Would you like for me to follow, or accompany them?” Mara asked the Jedi. She was really asking Anakin, but Windu should be hearing this too.

“No, I think it’ll be alright,” Anakin told her. She let it go then and there.

“If you say so,” she responded. Her eyes followed the clones as they walked out.

__________

Mara saw them outside the hanger. A small transport made a hard landing, almost crashing into ammo crates. As she stepped closer, she heard that Rex was meeting with a group of clones called the Bad Batch. She’s encountered them before. In fact, Cody deferred them to her when they were in a tight spot. The only one who looked remotely like Rex was Hunter, their leader. This was definitely interesting. The nineteen-year-old watched them fly off. A smile crept up on her face.

Maybe she will follow them after all. The young woman flew low, taking out any droid patrols she came across. When their ship crashed, she hid, observing from the sidelines. All except the driver and Cody got out. The driver appeared to be dead. The large clone of the “Bad Batch” tipped the small ship over, grabbing Cody’s body before the ship exploded. Mara did nothing as a large force of droids attacked them. The “Bad Batch” took them head-on. They used one of the pieces of the ship as a shield as they fired electric detonators at them. The spider droids were taken out by the big one, and a different one that had a blade. She was liking them already.

The girl followed as they made a camp before taking an outpost. She had to move a bit farther away as a large battalion was closing in on them. A tactical droid and a few commando droids inspected the damage. Mara suspected that the clones were already on their way to their actual target, the command center. Quickly, she fled to watch them.

When she got there, they were already starting their assault. One of them sniped the droids while others took them head-on. That left a distraction for the other droids to check out and abandon their post at the front door. Mara came closer to the scene. One of the clones tried to get the door open from the lock. The larger one just decided to kick it down. Now, she just had to wait.

A few minutes later, the droid battalion caught up with them. Mara fought the urge to help them out. They brought out the super droids, which pushed the clones to seal themselves in the tower. The sniper clone stole a speeder and picked the others up as they exited through the other entrance.

They flew off, back to the Republic side. She followed.

When they got back, Mara tried to land out of sight from everyone. However, she was caught by the Bad Batch leader. “Hey!” He shouted. “You were the one following us, weren’t you?”

No point in denying it. “Why yes, yes I was.” The others gathered around her.

“Mara?” Rex questioned. The other clones gathered round. “What’s going on?”

“If you’re thinking that Skywalker wanted me to follow you guys, think again,” she responded. “I was merely interested. You’re good by the way. I’ll be off now.” She left them.

“Isn’t that the lady who helped us out that one time with our run-in with the Miranda clan?” One of the bad batch questioned. It was the giant, she recognized. Wrecker.

”Hey yeah,” said the sniper. “What’s a slave girl doing in a war zone?”

“I’m not sure what you mean. She’s a stealth operative, and a consultant with the Jedi,” Rex answered them. “That’s all I’m at liberty to say.”

—————

“Where were you?” Anakin questioned as soon as he saw her.

“I followed Rex and Cody. The squad they chose, was... interesting.” She answered him.

His brows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean, interesting?”

“Spoilers,” she smiled, before leaving his side. He merely looked at her before shaking his head. He soon found out what she meant when she called them interesting. They talked for a while.

She went towards the barrack she knew Anakin would go in order to talk to Padme. It was during one of her stealth missions that she found out about their secret marriage. He really did understand Ahsoka’s wanting to leave the Order.

When he finally appeared, she said, “You’re late. Because of the mission, I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it.”

“Well, I’m here, aren’t I?” He asked her. Rex accompanied the Jedi, standing outside the door with Mara. The Clone gave the Jedi his helmet.

“Hunter doesn’t trust you, you know,” Rex told her.

“Is that the leader’s name? I figured he wouldn’t. Although, I should note. I followed you guys with the intent of being noticed eventually. I wasn’t going off of Anakin’s or Windu’s orders, so I could afford to be sloppy.”

“I see.”

“What did you find on your excursion, anyway?”

“Echo could be alive.” 

“What? Really?” She turned to him. 

“Yeah, I’m not sure how to feel about it either.”

“Oh no,” Mara muttered. “Don’t be alarmed. Kenobi’s approaching at one o’clock.”

“What?” He whispered before seeing him, and straightening his stance. Rex knocked on the door thrice.

“Rex, Mara,” Kenobi greeted. “Where’s Anakin? I need to speak to him about this mission.”

“Well, you see, sir, the General,” Rex fibbed.

“He’s in your barrack, isn’t he?” The Jedi questioned.

“Why, yes,” Mara responded. “Yes he is.”

Kenobi crosses his arms. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothing sir, we were just waiting for the General, general,” Rex quickly said.

“You’ll have to do better than that, Captain,” Obi-wan informed. “What is he doing in there anyway?”

“He’s checking over a few things,” Mara told him.

“Without either of you?”

“He specifically wanted to do it by himself, Kenobi. He seemed to be in a mood.”

Before another word could be said, Anakin emerged, tossing Rex’s helmet back to him. “There you go, Rex. I’m not sure how you did it, but it’s fixed now.” The clone put his helmet under his arm as the Skywalker walked away.

“Anakin,” Kenobi stated. “About the mission, the council thinks-“

“That it’s a good idea?” Skyguy projected as he walked away. “Rex, come on. Mara, you coming?”

“Be right there,” Mara responded. She smiled kindly at Kenobi’s annoyed face before joining the men.

“No, wait that’s not-“ Kenobi tried.

“I’m sure it’s fine,” Anakin stated.

“I hope you told Padme I said hello,” the brunette bearded warrior stated. The trio stopped, turning to face him. Anakin merely smiled at them man before they rejoined the Bad Batch.

—————

They were now in space, heading towards a planet called Skako Minor. Anakin was checking out one of Crosshair’s rifles. Wrecker was lifting a droid. Tech was driving. Hunter was checking something on the circuits of the ship.

“How many missions have your squad been on, sergeant?” Anakin asked him.

“Honestly, sir, I’ve lost count,” Hunter told him. “All the action sort of blurs together.”

“I know you work with Cody, sometimes,” Rex brought up. “But who do you guys report to?”

Hunter turned form the circuits to face him with crossed arms. “Hmm… good question. Can’t say I’ve got an answer.” To that, Mara tried to stifle a chuckle. It didn’t exactly work, however.

Somehow, he reminded her of Fang. 

“Something funny?” The clone asked.

“No, sorry, you just remind me of someone I used to know,” she responded. 

“Why are you accompanying us, anyway?” Hunter asked her. A clear distrust was present in his eyes. “And don’t say it’s because we interest you. I’m still not sure I trust you after what happened with the Miranda Clan.”

“Hunter, if there’s a chance of rescuing a fallen soldier, I want to help.”

“How did you end up with the Jedi? Rex here said you’re a consultant and stealth operative. You never introduced yourself as such. I don’t like not knowing things, _Inara_.”

“That… is a story for another time.” The young woman stole a glance at Skywalker. He hasn't said a word since their whole exchange. Maybe he'll confront her about it afterward?

The ship started shaking. Turbulence. “We’re approaching Skako Minor,” Tech informed the group. “It looks to be a difficult landing.” Wrecker put down his droid. Everyone took their seats. 

They entered the yellow atmosphere. Soon enough, something started beeping. They landed. It became clear to them that they landed in a storm.

“I’d say sandstorm,” Mara stated. “But it’s something else.” Her ears pricked up. Glancing at the ceiling, she squinted her eyes. Something was off. She chose to ignore it for now.

“Rex, what do we know about this place?” Skywalker asked.

“On this part of Skako, there’s a race of locals, the Poletecs,” the captain stated. “All we know is… they’re very primitive.”

“Primitive is being kind,” interjected Tech. “My intel says the Poletecs worship flying reptiles.”

Mara smiled. “So that’s what I heard outside the ship,” she muttered. The others looked at her strangely, then ignored her.

Whatever they were going to say next was cut short by one of them. It looked like someone was riding it. The creature tried to get past the glass. “Oh! What the heck is that?” Wrecker questioned no on in particular.

That looks more like a glorified bat than a dragon,” Mara whispered.

“It’s one of those reptiles,” Tech informed.

“I want that thing off my ship,” Hunter ordered. The men all started to move towards the door. Once they got out, they stared up at the beast. One of the Poletecs was riding it. “Get off my ship!” Hunter yelled.

“Hey, calm down,” Anakin advised. “We need to talk to them.”

“Why?” Wrecker asked.

“The general’s right,” Rex told them. Another one of those creatures came at them. Two of them, actually. Mara decided to take flight. The riders avoided her, banking around to the other natives’ side. One of them then swooped down and took Anakin.

She flew after them, releasing a sonic cry onto the rider, trying to get him to drop. It worked for a little, before one of the others attacked her. They initiated a chase. One of the Bad Batch managed to harpoon the beast carrying Anakin in the leg, going along for the ride. It was probably Hunter.

She managed to get back to Anakin and the clone. The natives flew through rocks into their camp. Mara landed next to the clone.

“Tech,” he said over the comlink. “We’re with the General. Hone in on my signal.” He stared at Mara as she folded her wings flat against her back. “Come on.”

They went down the rocks to a spot they could hide and observe. Soon, Hunter’s ship landed close to them. The clones rushed out. Rex used binoculars to check things out. The creature still seemed to be having a tight grip on the Jedi.

“We’re going in,” Rex decided. “But remember, no casualties. Disarm only.”

Hunter and the others stood. “We’re on it Captain,” the squad leader told him. “Tech, Crosshair, rockslide.” They got a lose boulder to roll down the rock face before sliding after it. Mara chose to fly.

The gigantic rock barreled into their community. The clones disarmed the natives while Crosshair sniped a dart onto the creature’s leg. It screeched, letting go of Anakin.

Hunter held a gun to the leader, who told him something in his native language. “Tech, can you translate?” The clone requested.

Words appeared on Tech’s specs. “He says... he doesn’t want our war on his planet,” Tech answered. “That is why he took our leader.

“We didn’t bring the war here,” Anakin told the leader. “It was Wat Tambor and the Separatists.”

Tech translated his words.

“Tell him we apologize for what happened,” suggested Rex. “But tell him the enemy is holding one of our men prisoner in Purkoll. As soon as we rescue him, we’ll leave his planet, for good.”

Curiously, the alien leader stepped towards him, peering at the words on his screen. He then turned to Anakin and spoke. 

“The chief says he will provide us with scouts, and lead us to Tambor’s city. From there, we’re on our own.”

“Any help is better than no help,” Anakin admitted.

—————

And so they were off. It took them only a few hours to get to where they needed to go. The final destination was up a steep mountain pass. Once at a ledge, the guides went back down.

“I hope no one’s afraid of heights,” Mara stated, stretching her wings out. She was at the front with Anakin. The two of them glanced at the clones, who glanced at each other.

“I just…” Wrecker hesitated. “When I’m up really high, I have a problem with gravity.”

“Speaking of problems,” interjected Tech. He was a t the back. “I’m no longer picking up Echo’s signal.”

Rex turned to him, slightly angered. “I-I don’t understand. You said it was coming from this city,” he pointed at the buildings before them. 

“I can only speculate, but it’s possible there’s a latency issue with the frequency, caused by all these atmospheric disturbances,” Tech explained. The clone paced slightly to try and get a better signal.

Hunter turned to the others and stated, “Or, maybe they sent a signal to lure us into a trap. And maybe your friends are actually dead.”

“Or, they found out we were coming and decided to throw us off our trail,” Mara thought out loud. They all turned to her. “Every mission could be a trap guys. This one’s no different.”

“He’s alive! He has to be the one sending out the signal,” Rex decided.

“I think you’re letting your personal feelings get in the way because you left him for dead at the Citadel,” Crosshair theorized. He started walking back.

“I had no choice. You hear me!” Rex countered, making the sniper stop and turn towards him.

“Oh, I don’t blame you. I would’ve left him for dead too.” The clone resumed his course. “Besides it’s just another reg.”

That’s where Rex drew the line. He punched Crosshair square in the face. Wrecker picked him up, “Hey! Why don’t you pick on someone not your size?” The giant challenged.

“You’ll be a lot smaller when I’m through with you!”

“Hey!” Mara yelled, using her telekinesis to make them float. The others stared at her in shock. “Enough! We are here to do a mission. Like it or not, for now, we’re teammates! Start acting like it, damn it!” She set them down.

Anakin stepped towards them. “Sergeant, take your men, and scout the area. Mara, you go a different way. I want to speak with my Captain alone.”

“As you wish, Skywalker,” Mara stated before flying off the ledge.

She ventured down to the city. The storm was still brewing, so she had to be careful. The young woman flew close to the ground, spotting an empty city. After all, who’d want to be out in this atmosphere? She regrouped with the others in time. While landing, she tucked her wings back under her clothes.

“Tech managed to regain Echo’s signal. It’s coming from this tower,” Hunter told them. “How’s it going, Tech?” The clone one question was trying to get the door open. After a few seconds, it worked. It didn’t seem like the building was lit well.

“Sorry that took long,” Tech stated.

“Crosshair, check it out,” Hunter ordered.

The sniper went inside. It’s a lift. “Like I couldn’t already tell,” Mara muttered.

“Wait, a lift?” Wrecker questioned. “How far up does it go?”

“Don’t worry Wrecker, I’ll hold your hand,” Hunter joked.

“Whatever Sarge. Just give me some droids to smash,” the giant responded.

They were all able to fit in there. The elevator took them up. “Remember, this is a stealth mission,” Anakin told the group. “No blasting, no blowing up things. No one knows we’re here.” He spoke too soon.

The life doors opened, revealing a group of droids. Wrecker got a little too excited and started blasting them. The others joined in. “So much for stealth,” Mara stated as she walked out, shooting any droid she saw. In time, the room was cleared.

Wrecker yelled out in excitement. “Sorry,” he apologized, realizing the other’s stares. “Just got a little too excited.

Tech checked the signal. “I’ve still got Echo’s signal,” he informed the group.

“Alright, men,” said Hunter. “Let’s hunt some droids.” He took the lead down the hall.

They walked down the hall. At its end, Hunter hid before shooting the droids closest to them. Rex took care of the other two. The others walked out.

“Where exactly is Echo’s signal coming from?” Anakin asked Tech.

“Strange,” said the clone, holding the device. “I’ve just lost the signal.”

“What? How can that be?” Rex questioned him. “There’s no atmospheric disturbances in here.”

“Well I have a new theory,” Tech told him. “I’m surprised I didn’t consider it earlier. The signal is only traceable during data transmissions. So, until Echo dispenses more intel. I cannot pick up the signal.”

“Okay,” Anakin took the information well. “We’ll split up. Open every door. If someone finds Echo, contact the others. We go in, together, just Incase there’s trouble.”

Anakin, Crosshair, and Mara went right, while the others went left. As soon as they encountered a door, they opened it. Nothing besides crates were in there. The sound of a lightsaber beckoned her to Skywalker’s side. She took care of a droid that stood behind him.

Just then, Tech informed them that the signal was back and gave them their location. Mara grabbed Crosshair and the three of them were on their way, smashing and shooting through every droid they found.

When they got to Tech’s location, they found a large swarm of droids cornering them. Swiftly, they took them all down. Well, that is, until more droids came along.

“Tech, open that door for Rex,” Anakin ordered.

“Yes, General,” he said, getting right to it.

Hunter, Mara, and Anakin took one side, while Wrecker and Crosshair took the other. It had gotten to be a few minutes, so the Jedi left to check on Rex and Tech, leaving Mara and Hunter to destroy the droids.

Soon, however, the onslaught of droids got to be too much. The clones retreated to the door while Mara telekinetically pushed them away. They smashed into each other and eventually the walls. Once that was done, she joined the others in the room.

“More droids are surely on their way,” she told them as Hunter closed the door. 

Some of the droids managed to get the door open, but Wrecker destroyed them and helped the others keep the door closed. They then started to seal themselves in.

Crosshair stepped back and used his helmet to see through the metal. “Enemy approaching,” he told them. “Droids. Lots of ‘em.”

“How long do you think you can hold them off?” Anakin asked them.

“How long do you need?” Hunter questioned.

“Tech, how much longer?” The Jedi almost hounded.

“Not yet,” said the tech clone. “I need more time.”

Something was cutting its way into the door. Hunter and Crosshair ditched it and started sealing the one closer to Echo.

“Ah, I’ve got it. You can unplug him now,” Tech informed. Rex ripped the plug out of the poor clone’s body.

They had a touching reunion, but things were getting down to the wire.

“There’s an exhaust vent that leads to the cooling system,” Echo pointed above them. “Right there.” They all looked up to see a circular vent. He looked so incredibly pale. Cybernetic implants snakes down his back. One of his arms was replaced with a robot arm that’s only good for those pugs. There were small pieces of metal attached to his head as well.

The buzzing of a laser brought Mara out of her hope. “They’ve breached through the front door,” she told them, raising her blaster. “Won’t be long before they get to the second.”

“There, that should get it open,” said Echo. Mara turned her head to find that Echo had a robotic arm.

“Great now how are we getting up there?” Crosshair questioned.

“I know my way,” said Mara. “That’s why I’ll go last. Wrecker, throw them up.”

“Just what I was thinking,” the giant clone stated before picking the sniper up and tossing him into the vent.

“A little warning would have been nice!” The sniper shouted. He then made way for the others to get in. Then, it was down to Anakin, Wrecker and Mara.

Anakin needed no assistance. He got up there no problem. Mara saw Wrecker’s hesitation with a few of the thermal detonators he carried. “Give those to me,” Mara told him. “You go.”

The giant nodded before jumping up. Mara flew up, and dropped the detonators on the controls of the experiment before a probe droid made its way through the second door. She then closed the lid on the vent.

They wandered, the cold didn’t seem to bother them. “Huh,” said Tech. “These vents act as the cooling system for all the computers in the facility.”

“How did you know it was up here, Echo?” Anakin asked.

“Well, they got access to my memory,” said the wounded soldier. He was being helped along by Rex. “Meanwhile, I got access to the Techno Union database. All their plans, inventory, building schematics—everything.”

“So mean you can find us a way out of here then?” Mara asked him.

“Well, there is a way,” Echo stated. “But you’re not going to like it.”

He led them to a hatch that led to the outside, just above the cloud line. A pipe large stretched out to another building.

“Oh, I like it,” stated Mara.

“Well I’m not so sure about it,” Rex voiced.

“I’m telling you, there’s a landing pad on that other building,” Echo told them.

“You think there’s a ship we can steal?” One of them asked.

“Well, I hope there’s a ship we can steal.”

“Want me to check it out, Skywalker?” Mara offered.

“Go,” he ordered. With that, she flew off, noticing the others following getting onto the pipe.

The sound of laser fire brought her back. She got there in time to see them jump on those flying lizards. The droids flew after them.

“Not on my watch,” she said before using telekinesis to hold the droids in place. She slowly began crushing them, destroying all their circuitry. When it was done, she joined up with the clones and Jedi. “You’re welcome,” she said to them.

They made it to the village without another hitch.

The village chief of the natives came up to them as they landed in the middle of their town. “Their leader is impressed we rammed the Keeradaks,” informed Tech. “But he wants to know why we returned here.”

“Tell him we had no choice,” said Anakin. “Tell him that we wore out our welcome in Purkoll.”

Suddenly, a small group of droids shot at the village before retreating. “I thought you said you took care of those,” Hunter raised his voice at Mara.

“I thought I did! But clearly, more were on their way!” She sighed. “Reinforcements will be coming,” Mara told them.

The chief spoke. “He says,” said Tech. “That we have broken our word. We’ve brought the war to his village.”

Rex stepped in front to face the chief. “You’re right,” he removed his helmet. Tell him he’s right, Tech. Tell him we didn’t plan to drag his people into war.” He pointed to Echo, who stepped up. “But look what the separatists did to one of our people!” The chief was taken aback by the sight of Echo. “They took away his freedom, his humanity. They tried to turn him into a machine.” The clone waited for Tech to translate before continuing. “The Techno Union claims it’s neutral. They _have_ chosen sides. Now, _your_ people have to choose.”

“Couldn’t have said it better myself, Rex,” Anakin complimented.

—————

Mara took a post on a high ledge while the others took separate positions all around the city. Once Anakin and Mara spotted more of the flyboys, as Mara liked to call them, they signaled for Crosshair and Wrecker to begin.

The giant clone pushed a boulder into their forces, and everyone else began firing. They slid down the rock face, guns blazing. Most of the natives, however, had spears.

Droids were being taken out left and right. Everything seemed to be fine until the strange tripod walker attacked. It held a more powerful laser. Mara took a spear and flew on top of it before diving and stabbing it in the brain. It swayed back and forth a little, until it became violent shaking, trying to get her off. She telekinetically drove the spear deeper into its mainframe. It started firing all willy nilly. She bent the cannons it had before firing shots into it. The girl then decided to rip its legs apart. She didn’t exactly have to though, because one of the cannons she had bent had aimed itself at its head. It shot itself. The machine exploded. Mara barely had enough time to get out of there. 

When she landed, she found that the other three walkers had been taken care of, and the flyboys were retreating. The natives cheered.

—————

They were now able to get back to their ship. The chief and a few of the other villagers thought to send them off.

“Thank you for your help,” Anakin said to the chief.

Tech translated his words, and the chiefs response. “He said the Jedi will always have an ally here on Skako Minor.”

With that, they left each other, the humans boarded their ship and was out of the planet.


	21. Victory on Anaxes

Over the next few days, while Echo recovered, the generals strategized. Mara and Rex were with them.

“We have more than a dozen active battlefronts on Anaxes,” Windu stated. “And we are losing nearly every one. But,” a hologram of the planet was activated. “If Admiral Trench can no longer anticipate our moves, we now have the opportunity to retake the planet.”

“I can improve your chances,” Echo stated. He was wearing some armor. A floating kaminoan medical droid accompanied him. 

Rex stepped towards his friend. “Wh, excuse me generals, Miss,'' he said. 

Echo stepped closer to him. The commander placed a hand on his shoulder. “Echo, I’m sorry, but I just don’t think you’re ready for battle yet.”

“I’m not a liability, Rex,” Echo countered. “I’m the best chance to take back Anaxes.”

“He does make a good point, Rex,” Mara voiced. “He got access to them while they had access to him. Remember?”

“If the trooper has an idea,” seconded Windu. “I’d like to hear it.”

“May I?” The pale clone asked the Commander. Rex stepped aside. 

Echo inputted some new data into the hologram. He said, “While Master Windu leads a team to retake the assembly complex, the Bad Batch will escort me into Trench’s new comm vault, which according to current intel,” the hologram changed to an image of a dreadnought. “Is now located on this Separatist Dreadnought above Anaxes. Once I’m plugged in, I can feed Trench strategies, but this time, _you’ll_ know every move before he makes it.”

“And you are certain that if we can get you onboard that ship,” Mace stated. “That you can convince Trench’s army to do what you want?”

“Absolutely,” the clone responded. “Unfortunately, I’ve been doing this for a while, but this time, I can help bring about a Republic victory instead of a defeat.”

The plan was allowed. Mara and Anakin accompanied the Bad Batch along with Echo and Rex. They climbed the atmosphere higher than every other ship. 

“Please tell me I get to blow something up,” Wrecker stated.

“Sorry Wrecker,” Anakin said. “This is a stealth mission.”

“I hate that word,” the giant grumbled. 

Once they got close enough to the ship, Anakin gave the go-ahead for Echo to start. “Don’t worry,” said the clone, kneeling down to reach the plug. “As soon as I plug in, I’ll send a signal to the command ship.”

“What type of signal are you gonna send?” Hunter questioned him. He looked to Crosshair before returning his gaze to the rescued clone. “Nothing that’ll give us away, right?”

“As far as the droids are concerned,” Echo told him. “We’re just gonna be another one of their shuttles coming in for a landing.”

“And the Regs think _we_ take risks,” Hunter muttered.

“Sending the signal… now.”

 _“Jesus Christ, I am getting serious Reaver vibes right now,”_ Mara thought. Curse Iggy and Gazzy and their love of Firefly. They docked on the bottom of the Dreadnought. They got in with minimal difficulty. The hallway they entered through was empty.

Once they found the vault, Rex, Tech, and Echo went in while the rest stood guard. Mara thought it strange that there weren’t any droids to interfere with them in this part of the ship. They’re pretty hecking lucky. It’s luck like this that she’s wary about.

She was brought out of it by Hunter. “You know, you’ve still got a heck of a lot of explaining to do,” he told her.

“Do I?” She asked dryly. She kept her head forward.

“Yeah, you just don’t make sense. You help us escape by pretending to be a slave girl. You can use the force, but you don’t have a saber. Tech says no species in any part of the galaxy is like you. And don’t think I haven’t noticed that translator in your ear.”

“You mean to say that there are no humans alive with my genetic makeup,” she stated, still keeping her head forward. A strange silence passed over them. “Oh, and I have other abilities which I have not displayed. One of them is quite useful against organics. I wouldn’t try pushing me.” She finally turned to him, and looked around. The Bad Batch were all giving her a strange look. Wrecker and Crosshair went to guard the other entrances.

“I wouldn’t have to if you would just tell me upfront.”

She studied the wall opposite her before peering into his eyes. He appeared to be looking at her as well. “All in due time. I’ll tell you when I’m ready, alright?”

The clone returned his gaze forward. “Fine.”

“I’m intercepting something,” Tech voiced. The others turned to him. “Trench is sending all his droids to the assembly complex.” Mara’s brows furrowed at the information.

“Alright, Echo, what are you trying to pull?” Hunter questioned, walking up to the reg. 

“Don’t worry,” said the pale clone. “That’s what I told him to do.”

“But our troops would be vastly outnumbered,” Rex brought up.

“Not when I send them a feedback pulse that shuts down all the droids,” Echo countered.

“How do we know that’s what you’re really going to do?” Tech asked him.

“We have to trust him,” said Rex, still holding out hope.

“He’s right.” It looked like Anakin was too. “Echo, we’re all counting on you.” With a nod, Echo went back to sending the signal. Skywalker accessed Windu on the coms and began to walk outside of the vault. “Master Windu? I know this sounds crazy, but it’s about to get a little more crowded where you are.”

“We have our hands full as it is,” Windu told him. “What is your plan?”

“If it makes you feel any better it isn’t my plan.” Anakin turned to look back at Echo. “Echo is drawing all the droids to your position, so he can neutralize them all at the same time.”

A few minutes later, Echo went an electric pulse through the vault. Not a second later, Windu contacted Skywalker, saying, “I am pleased to report that we are in control of the assembly complex and all of the fronts are falling to the Republic thanks to Echo’s plan.”

“That’s good news Master Windu,” Anakin stated. He went into the vault to tell the clones and the Jedi, “We’re on our way back to base.” Mara and Hunter followed him.

“May the force be with you,” Windu signed off.

“Good job, Echo,” Anakin complimented him. The clone stopped sending the signal. 

“Well, I guess you actually are on our side,” Huber acknowledged.

“Was there ever any doubt?” Echo asked that as if he truly thought there weren’t. Oh, this poor bean.

“Some,” Tech admitted, walking out of the vault.

“Well, thanks, I guess.” Hunter and Echo shared a nod.

“Come on, brother,” said Rex. “Unplug and let’s get out of here.”

“Wait,” said Echo. “I’ve just scanned a new order from Trench. He’s initiated a countdown.”

“Well, ain’t that fun?” Mara muttered.

“There’s a bomb hidden in the assembly complex.” Their eyes widened. “But it’s big enough to destroy most of Anaxes.”

“Can you stop it?” Anakin asked him.

“Well, I can try,” Echo stated. He went back to the plug.

Without warning, Anakin ran out. “Skywalker, where’re you going?” Mara called after him

“If he can’t stop the detonation then Trench can!” The Jedi responded. Mara fought the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose.

Tech decided to contact Windu. “General Windu, this is Tech. We’ve discovered a bomb in the fusion reactor. We need someone to go down there and disarm it.”

“On my way,” responded Windu. 

_Was he really going to do this?”_ Mara thought to herself.

A minute or so later, Mace contacted Echo. “Echo, I’ve found the bomb. Tell me the sequence to shut it down.” 

_“So the bomb is disarmable by sequence? That’s rare,”_ Mara thought.

“I’m decrypting it now,” the pale clone responded, holding his head.

“You have to unplug!” Tech’s voice was raised. The Bad Batch clone knelt down. “They’re going to detect us!”

“No, no, we need these codes.” His comlink was still active. Once he found some information, he said, “The first number in the sequence is three. The next is one. Eight. Seven-.”

An electronic pulse was sent through the vault. “They’re onto us,” told Tech. The pulse got into Echo’s systems. He yelled out in pain. Rex pulled him out, which made him unable to respond to Windu as he called out to the clone from Anaxes.

“Trench knows we’re here,” Mara stated. 

Rex grabbed his comlink. “Trench took out Echo. We can’t get you the last number in the sequence. Sorry, General, you’ll have to disarm that bomb without us.”

“Don’t worry about me, Captain,” the Jedi responded. “Get your men out of there.”

“Yes sir.”

Hunter went ahead to get Wrecker and Crosshair while Tech put his helmet back on. Rex did the same before waking up Echo and helping him up. Mara was the last one out. She readied her pistol. Their luck had finally run out. The winged human brought up the rear, taking down all of the clankers that would attack them from behind as the group traveled back to their ship.

“We can’t blast our way out,” said Crosshair. “There’s too many of them.” To that, Wrecker gave Hunter his blaster. The Sargeant now had two, which he aimed at both sides. The giant then proceeded to smash into every droid he saw.

“All clear!” Wrecker stated. 

Sure they were clear on one end, but that doesn’t mean they were clear on the other. “You guys go, I’ll try to buy you some time,” said Crosshair.

“Meet us at the infiltration point,” told Hunter before he and the group ran off.

“He’s trying to top me, I know it,” Wrecker said out loud.

Once they got there, it seemed to be clear. Or maybe Mara was thinking too soon. “I’m picking up dozens of droids on my sensors,” Tech informed the group. “They’re all heading this way.” Rex went ahead and brought Echo into the shuttle.

No sooner, Anakin showed up. He ran up to them. “Hope you’re not waiting on me,” he said.

“Now all we’re missing is Crosshair,” Hunter stated. Speak of the devil. The sniper ran up to them from the other hallway.

The sniper kept throwing mirror looking things that stuck to the wall. Once a bunch of droids came through, he shot one of the mirrors. The blast rikosheyed, hitting every mirror and going through every clanker.

Wrecker stared with his mouth agape and his eyes wide. “Don’t worry, Wrecker,” Hunter said. “You’ll top him next time.”

“No he won’t,” Crosshair interjected. A groan of sadness and frustration escaped from the giant as he walked with the rest of the group.

Once everyone was on board and they detached from the ship and went back to Anaxes. While in the ship, Anakin gave Wrecker what looked like a detonator. 

“Whoa, seriously? I get to blow up the whole thing?” Wrecker asked excitedly. Anakin nodded. The giant wiped a tear from his grey eye. “This is the happiest moment of my life.” He pressed the button. All the enemy ships exploded.

When they got to the ground, the Generals thought to congratulate the clones. “Captain Rex, Corporal Echo, and Clone Force 99,” stayed Windu. “You have all done a great service for the Republic. Thanks to your courage and effort, Republic shipyards will soon be up and running again.” With that, he left.

“You’ve got some medals coming your way,” Kenobi said before walking away as well. Anakin said nothing.

“You guys fought well,” Mara said before going away in her own direction.

“Thank you, generals, and Mara,” Rex stated.

They couldn’t see it, but Mara was smiling.

“Hey, Mara!” She turned to find the Bad Batch and Echo looking at her. Hunter was the one who called after her. She walked back to them. “You still owe us an explanation.”

“And why do you think I’ll give it to you now?” She asked him.

“Just a feeling,” he answered.

She pushed past them and entered their ship. “Come on boys.” Almos warily, they followed. Once they entered, they found she was sitting on one of their chairs. “So, what do you want to know?”

“Well,” Tech stated as he and others glanced at each other. “How about everything?”

“Sit,” she told them. “Guess it’s storytime.” They did. “Okay. I am from a planet on the other side of the universe, called Earth. There, only humans live. Well, humans, and various other animals. Anyway, I’m pretty sure just over six thousand languages exist there.” She chuckled. “I can only speak about over thirty. Hell, my planet is so far away from any other planet...” she pointed to her translator in her ear. “I have to use this in order to communicate with you people.” She then took it out. “See? Can’t understand me, can you?” A mix of emotions showed on their faces. The young woman put the device back in.

“Anyway. Not everyone has the sort of genetic makeup that I have. In fact, I’m a genetic experiment. Taken from my parents at birth, I was genetically modified into a weapon by corrupt scientists. I was trained in combat, given special abilities. My first mission was when I was ten. My first assassination, I was forteen. The company I worked for were vile people. At first, they messed with people’s genes just to see if they could. Now, I’m pretty sure they want to take over the fucking world. I escaped them before being recaptured, and escaping again. I was running from a unit of theirs called Erasers—Wolf-men who are sent in to retrieve people for the company—when a mysterious portal dropped me off in the skies of Coruscant.”

“Is that where you learned to control your Jedi powers?” Crosshair questioned.

She gave him a glare. “If I was a Jedi, don’t you think I’d be carrying around sabers? Besides, I’m in no way empathic. The force does not flow through me.”

“Well then, what was that ability you have?” Tech asked, punching things into his tablet. “I already have you down for your wings…”

“Right well…” she levitated a small piece of metal from the floor to her eye level. “On my planet, it’s called telekinesis. Then…” she made the metal turn into a liquid. “There’s this lovely ability of matter manipulation. I only discovered I had it about two years ago.” She turned the flowing metal back into a solid. It spiked in places it hadn’t before. Mara let it drop to the floor.

“What about that other ability you told me you have?” Hunter asked.

“Sonic wave manipulation.”

“What’s that?”

“You May want to cover your ears,” she told them. She stood up and aimed herself at a window. Opening her mouth, she let out a sonic cry that nearly shattered the glass. The young woman turned back to them to see their faces full of mixed emotions. “I’ve killed a lot of people with that. Their ears bleed, and I think their eardrums explode in their heads.” Wrecker looked completely shocked beyond belief.

”If I may ask,” said Tech. “Do you plan on returning to Earth?”

”the thought lingers in my mind, but I don’t think I will. Besides, my flock is looking after things, making sure that the company doesn’t actually take over the world.”

”Flock?” Crosshair questioned.

”There are a few others who’s DNA have been combined with that of a birds. Besides, I kinda want to see this war through.”

”You know, you never did tell us your relationship with Micah Miranda,” Crosshair stated.

”I accompanied the Jedi on a mission to free a captured group of Togruta. We were captured, and I was sold to Miranda. I escaped when he tried to rape me.” She started towards the door before stopping. “Oh, and I’m a Jedi secret. Tell no one about me.”

“Don’t worry,” said Hunter. “We won’t. You can contact us, whenever you’re in a pickle, or on shore leave.” She gave them a smile before leaving their ship.

As she walked around in the hanger, she was stopped by Anakin. “There you are,” said he. “I was beginning to think you’d join up with them.”

“And leave you? Never,” she responded.

“By the way, why do they keep referring to Miranda?”

”I may or may not have helped them get out of a sticky situation involving that man,” she told him almost sheepishly.

”You what?!”

”and this is why I didn’t tell you in the first place,” she told him with arms crossed. “Your yelling. Besides, the clones are probably waiting for us.”

The two of them walked back to the festivities. Clones were celebrating this victory with alcohol. This should be fun. 

  
  



	22. Her First Encounter With The Bad Batch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to kick Micah’s ass again while also telling the story of how Mara knew the Bad Batch before hand. Enjoy!

Three months ago…

_Mara was on Felucia with the 212th, losing the battle. As to why Cody wanted to speak with her, she had no idea. “Commander?” She asked as she went inside the tent. “You wanted to see me?”_

_“Yes, I did,” he told her. A hologram appeared. It depicted four men in black and white patterned armor. “This is Clone Force 99. They call themselves the Bad Batch. They usually have a 100 percent success rate.”_

_“But?” Mara placed a hand on her hip._

_“But… they were sent over near Bon Muund, in order to destroy a droid factory funded by the Miranda Clan. That was almost a week ago. I haven’t heard from them since.”_

_“I’m guessing you want me to help them out?” She asked him. She didn’t really like the sound of this mission, but she also very much disliked Felucia. “Why me?”_

_“I would go, but I’m needed here.”_

_“If they have a 100 percent success rate, then why do you need to send me?”_

_“Because, they need help, and they won’t admit it. You don’t have to tell them you came from me. You could do this mission however you wanted.” Mara smiled at that._

_“Which one’s their leader?”_

_“The one with the long hair.”_

_“When can I leave?”_

_“You can leave in an hour. I’ve already arranged for a small ship to be your ride.”_

_“What’ll we tell Kenobi? He’ll notice if I’m gone, and he’ll want answers. Ahsoka’s already walked out on both his and Anakin’s lives, unwillingly of course, but if he thinks that I disappeared or some shit… I don’t know. I think I’d worry about him.” Not to mention the loss of Duchess Satine which she knew hit him harder than he’d care to admit around people in the Order._

_“I’ll handle it,” the clone trooper told her._

_“Alright, if you say so.”_

_An hour later, Mara was leaving in a small space craft that definitely didn’t look like it was from the Republic military. This could be fun. She has to be weary though. She’s going into Miranda territory. Bon Muund is a multi terrain planet, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t hostile. It is. Now, it seems as though the Mob has sided with the Seppies. In all honesty, it was mostly due to the amount of credits Count Dooku offered._

_It took her about a day and a half to get there by light speed._

_Once she did, she landed the boat in a dock in one of the towns, Zzyzx. The town could really be considered a city, given how large it is. It wasn’t too far from the droid factory, but it also wasn’t far from one of the various Miranda Mansions. It was a desert town too that bordered a forest._

_Stepping out into the streets, the soon-to-be-nineteen-year-old saw the destroyed factory. “So, they did do their job,” she muttered. “They must have gotten captured somehow.”_

_If she knew Micah, he would probably be at a nightclub tonight. Mayhaps she could best get her information from him. Trouble is, which night club might she be able to find him? Perhaps she can ask one of the locals._

_The teen walked up to a weapons shop. Stepping in, she saw that all of the weapons were Miranda manufactured. Perfect. “Can I help you, miss?” The human at the counter asked her._

_“Yeah, I need to talk to Miranda. Got any ideas on where he’ll be tonight?” She asked him, inspecting one of the blasters._

_“What’s it to you?” The clerk asked almost threateningly._

_“An interested party,” she responded, stepping closer to him. “It’s a shame about that factory. There was good profit in it.”_

_“Yeah, there was.” He moved around the counter to meet her. “Listen, I’m really not supposed to tell you this, but he’ll be in the Hakkasan. It’s on the other side of town.”_

_“Thank you for your cooperation,” she said to him before leaving. Now it was just a manner of getting over to that side of town and waiting._

_—————_

_By nightfall, she had made her way into the club. Knowing that he would most likely be in one of the back rooms, she grabbed one of the glass bottles of alcohol. Why she left her pistol in her ship is beyond her. She can’t exactly go back, not when she’s so close._

_As it turned out, there was another level to the building. It wasn’t lit as brightly from the side of the building she entered, so she wasn’t sure. The teen went up the stairs and found a door. This was it, the back room._

_Mara got into the back room to find Micah conversing with three other people. One of them was a Pyke. The other was human. Guards who got her in her way were bashed in the head with the bottle of alcohol. The hookers sitting around them screamed._

_When all the guards and Micah’s associates were dealt with, she remarked, “You know, I would’ve that’d break.” Mara dropped the battle on ground which broke. “Ah.” Turning to the hookers she said, “Ladies, if you please. I’d like to have a pleasant conversation with Micah alone please.” Quickly, they filed out._

_“Inara?” Micah questioned, sitting comfortably in his seat. “How nice of you to come to me. I don’t have to chase you down now.”_

_She smirked. “That’s what you think. Sir,” she added the last word with malice and slight content. Telekinetically, she raised him out of his chair. With her wings out, she then kicked him out of the window. She heard commotion from the people down below._

_Before he could fall, she caught him by his shirt. “You see, I actually came here to look for some people. A group of Commandos. They were the ones who took out your factory.”_

_He merely smiled and laughed for a little bit. “Oh, Inara, we could have been a great team if you didn’t run away.”_

_She dropped him for a second before catching him again. “We will never be a great team simply because you own me, sir. I don’t like being someone’s property. Now, you are going to tell me what I need to know. Not because I’m hanging you out of a window, but because I am very much willing to drop you!”_

_Mara intentionally let her grip slip finger by finger. When she was only holding him by two, he gave in. “Alright, Kriff! I’ll tell you! They’re in the cellar of the manor!”_

_She smiled. “Thank you very much… sir.” Her voice dropped with sarcasm and malice. She threw him back into the room through another window and flew off._

_—————_

_The manor itself was only a short flight of five minutes away from the club. She snuck in through the window. From there, she kept her wings on her back. It didn’t surprise her that some of the guards were Zygerrian. Mara killed them using her sonic wave. A few less slavers in the galaxy never hurt anyone. After she had killed her third Zygerrian slaver, a servant walked in on her._

_This servant was a wide eyed Twi’lek. Staring in horror at Mara’s work. They then recognized each other from the Zygerrian market without saying a word. Mara signaled for her to stay quiet about this. The Twi’lek nodded. With that, she was off._

_The cellar wasn’t too hard to find. It was just the basement. But, it was hard to get around. It was crawling with guards. Not wanting to cause attention to herself, she knocked most of them out with martial arts. However, she was soon found by other guards. They fired at her and she ran._

_She managed to break into the control room. Curious, they were each put in a different cell. Three of them were in their jails, but the fourth, the one with long hair, wasn’t. Scanning the cameras again, she found him being strapped to a table and being electrocuted. There was an older man there as well. “Must be Micah’s uncle,” she thought._

_She didn’t want to give her powers right away by freeing them individually. So, Mara unlocked only their cells from the control room. She’ll have to rescue the fourth one by herself, or have the others do it._

_Quickly, she ran out the room and down the hall. Once she had reached its end, she opened the door to find a clone-looking man with long hair and a face tattoo. The leader, she remembered. “He’s hotter in person,” she thought, blushing. “Not now, Mara!” The girl bashed both guards upside the head with a stolen club from one of the slavers. The older man stood up and started bad mouthing her, trying to catch her. She soon knocked him out with the club._

_“Hello,” she greets the clone as she gets him out of his bindings._

_Suddenly, the one with the specs rushes in. “Hunter, are you alright?” He then saw me. “Who’s she?”_

_“Just a slave girl who’s taking her chance to escape,” Mara told him. “Come on, I know the way out.” The two of them shared a glance before following her._

_The large one was the next she encountered, “Aww man, who took most of the fun?” He asked as he ran up to him. He began to question her before he saw his teammates._

_“Just follow her,” the leader stated. “She knows the way out.”_

_They found the fourth guy by the exit. “Who’s that?” He questioned the others._

_“Hell if I know,” the long haired one stated._

_Once they made it out, she stopped. It would seem weird to them if she had a ship ready to go since she introduced herself as a slave girl. “Do you have a ship?” She asked them. Her breath heaved in an effort to show fake exhaustion._

_“Yeah, it’s in the surrounding forest. Won’t take long to get to,” the one with speks told her._

_“Good, great,” her breathing became normal. “Lead the way.”_

_“Listen, kid, I don’t-” the grey haired one tried to talk to her._

_“Please. I have to get off this planet,” she begged. “I can’t stay here and be their slave any longer. I know you're the ones who blew up the factory, so will you please help me?” She fakes tears._

_The leader sighed, “Alright, fine, you can come.”_

_She gave out a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”_

_“INARA!” Boomed Micah. He stood a couple of yards away._

_She acted skittish, yelping and grabbing onto the big one for protection. He turned, shielding her behind him._

_“This way,” called the one with spectacles. He led them through the woods and to the ship. They made a quick ascent into space._

_She quietly sat at the cockpit with the man with glasses. When he asked her why she was sitting there, she said, “They’re beautiful, the stars.”_

_“Know how to fly?” He asked her._

_“No,” she lied, looking at him. He then proceeded to ramble on and on about how to pilot a ship, stuff that she already knew. Mara pretended to be interested and pretended she got down most of what he said to her._

_“Where would you like to be dropped off?” He asked after._

_“Somewhere not the outer rim,” she muttered._

_He merely smiled at her before dropping her off on an inner rim planet. There were quick goodbyes as she left them._

_Once they went back into the sky, she went to the nearest shipyard to buy a ride back to Felucia. As she flew, Mara wondered how mad Kenobi would get. She’s been gone for four days by now. Oh well, she’ll cross that bridge when she comes to it._

—————

Present day…

“So that’s what you were doing while you were gone,” Kenobi stated. She had just told both him and Skywalker the tale. It’s been two days since their mission on Anaxes. The three of them sat in a lounge area on Skywalker’s cruiser.

“Yep,” she confirmed. Of course, she left out the part about her killing people. She just told them that she knocked them out.

“Well, at least a slave castle was attacked,” Anakin stated.

She chuckled a little. 

“Next time you do one of those, at least tell us,” Kenobi told her. He sounded like a tired dad.

“Oh I will,” she nodded. “After how livid you were when I came back, I will.”

“Good.”


	23. Battle on Mandalore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guyyys I just figured out that the last four episodes of season 7 tie into Episode III!!!

It’s been a week since the Bad Batch left with Echo. Mara won’t admit it, but she liked having that motley crew around. They gave a fresh perspective. Now, she’s on Yerbana, helping the 501st and the 212th in their assault. Well, actually she’s helping the 212th on the bridge. The 501st, along with General Skywalker were battling the droids somewhere else. Not that that mattered, anyway. 

There were at least a thousand droids firing at them. The tactical droid has been staying out of sight. Most of the men, including Kenobi were taking cover. She was too, but less so. Then, she had this idea. Not wanting to confer with the Jedi General because she knew he’d most likely veto it, she flew out of sight to the top of the bridge braces. Then, she dropped a thermal detonator on the droids. Just enough to affect them, but not low enough to take out the bridge. The blast only took out a quarter of them.

Her comlink beeped. “Mara, whatever you’re doing, you-“

“See, I thought you’d say that if I told you what I was going to do, so I did it anyway,” she told him.

“Well well,” came Anakin’s voice. He appeared next to Obi-wan. “Looks like Mara started the party without me.”

“Hey Skywalker,” Mara greeted from her perch via comlink. He waved at her.

“Mara I’m going to need you to stop dropping bombs,” Anakin stated as he refused to take cover.

“You got it sir,” she sighed before eyeing a fighter droid. It whizzed past her. She chased it, dodging its line of fire. Then, she threw one of her detonators at it. It went down into the water. 

Mara knee better than to try and reason with the long haired brunette. Somehow, the young woman knew he was going to do something really flashy. He’s been getting sort of cocky lately. She heard the droids on the bridge cease fire. Just what the heck was Anakin planning this time.

Suddenly, Anakin’s men ambushed the droid battalion from the sides of the bridge. They had Jetpacks on. Soon, she saw Cody and his men join the fun. The tactical droid was destroyed by Anakin. Mara just decided to go for it and join the fun. Just when she had shot down a super droid, her comlink beeped. “Mara, Kenobi and I are headed back to my cruiser. Take care of the droids, when you’re done, you can rejoin us.”

“You got it,” she responded, before flying up to another droid and smashing its face in against concrete with a kick.

Sooner rather than later, both companies of clones managed to obliterate the enemy.

“Alright boys,” Mara projected. “Let’s start packing!” 

“Yes, sir!” Some of them responded. Oh yeah, that’s right. When they switched from calling her Miss to Sir eluded her, not that she cares anyway. But over the time she’s spent with them, a deep layer of trust was built.

The ride back to the cruiser went smoothly.

She found the Jedi Generals walking up to her in the hanger. R2D2 was with them. “Well?” Mara questioned them. “What is it?”

“Ahsoka,” Kenobi stated.

The young woman’s eyes widened. “Have you found her?” She asked him. 

“Well, actually she found us,” the bearded Jedi stated. 

Anakin looked to be in deep thought. When he came out of it, he said, with realization, “Ohhh, it all makes sense now. If Ahsoka hadn’t left the order, then she wouldn’t have been where she needed to be.”

“That’s one way to look at it, I suppose,” said Obi-wan.

“I’m sorry, what’s going on?” Mara questioned, her face full of puzzlement.

Skywalker walked in front of the other Jedi. “It’s the only way to look at it. We’re going to capture Maul. Finally. I thought you would be more excited about this.”

“Wait, back up,” Mara interjected, stepping closer to both of them. “Ahsoka… found Maul?”

“Not only that, she’s working with Bo-Katan,” Kenobi stated.

“Bo-Katan as en the Duchess’ sister?” 

“Yes.”

The sound of a ship landing in the hanger made Mara and Anakin face forward. A Mandalorian ship was docking. Ahsoka walked out first. She was followed by Bo-Katan Kryze and her other warriors.

The Togruta and the winged human locked eyes and nodded at each other. If all of this about Maul was true, then the time for niceties would have to wait. The former Padawan looked different. She spotted a blue jumpsuit and a brown leather head band. 

“Ahsoka,” greeted Anakin. “I’m so glad to see you-“

She raised her hand to halt his speech. “We’ll have to catch up another time,” she told him. “Things are moving quickly.”

The leader of the Nite Owls took off her helmet, saying, “Every minute we waste here gives Maul an opportunity to slip away.” The Mandalorian still has the same short ginger hair. 

Things seemed to tense for a small moment.

“We understand.” Kenobi broke the thin ice. “Follow me.” They all walked back to the war room. Anakin, however, seemed hurt. He hung back for a few seconds before catching up to them.

“Bo-Katan has been tracking Maul’s movements for several months,” Tano stated. A hologram of a star system showed. “I was able to obtain some transmission codes from the Pykes on Oba Diah, which helped her pinpoint some of his previous locations.”

“What were you doing on Oba Diah?” Anakin questioned her.

“That’s a long story,” she told him. “And not really relevant right now.” 

“What _is_ relevant,” Kryze stepped forward a little. “Is that we know Maul is in Mandalore in the city of Sundari.” The hologram changed to the outer dome of the city.

“You’re certain of this?” Kenobi asked the redhead.

“He arrived two days ago,” she answered. “So why not take him yourself? Or to be more specific, what do you want from the Republic?”

To Mara that seemed like a dumb question. She remembered what happened last time herself and Kenobi were there. They tried to rescue Duchess Satine, which failed, but they gained the help of the Nite Owls to escape. The last thing Bo-Karan said to them before they entered the ship, was to get on the ship and back to the Republic. Kenobi responded saying that would lead to a Republic invasion. She told him that it would end with Maul’s death, essentially.

Bo-Katan studied the floor while saying, “I don’t have the numbers needed for a siege.” Her eyes turned her head back up. “Without a complete lockdown of the city, Maul will escape again.” The hologram showed the inside of the city. “That is why I’m proposing a joint operation. If we are successful, you’ll have Maul and I’ll have Mandalore.”

The Jedi shared a look for a second. Obi-wan spoke. “If Republic forces aid you in your assault, it would break treaties that are 100 years old. We will effectively be drawn into another war.”

“What’s one more war?” She asked him sort of softly.

“Well,” said Anakin. “We aren’t finished with our first one yet. To that, Mara jabbed him in the side with her elbow. “Ow!”

“I’ll advise the Jedi Council on this,” Kenobi excused himself.

“There’s no time!” She seemed upset now. “Maul’s influence on Mandalore is destroying my people! He murdered our ruler, my sister.” In a low voice she said, “I thought she meant something to you!”

Obi looked dejected for a small moment before gathering himself. “She did, and still does,” Kenobi stated. He crossed his arms. “But I cannot allow my feelings to cloud my judgment. The Council will decide what our next course of action will be.” He then left.

Bo-Katan turned to Ahsoka saying, “I told you this was a waste of time.” Her and her accompaniment walked out the room in a different door.

Mara left the Jedi Knight and the former Padawan alone, giving them a small, sad smile. Soon, however, the alarm started blaring all throughout the ship. When the young woman found the former Padawan and Kenobi in an argument, she stepped in. “Just do what you should have done months ago,” she told them. The three of them looked at her curiously. “Promote Rex to Commander. Make Ahsoka an advisor, like me. I’ll go with her and them with Bo-Katan. You Jedi can go save your Chancellor.”

“That would work best, wouldn’t it?” Anakin considered. “What do you say, Ahsoka?”

“I accept,” she told them. “That is… if Obi-wan agrees.”

The older Jedi strokes his beard. “Very well,” Kenobi allowed. “May the force be with you.” The man then began to leave before stopping himself and turning towards them. “Oh, and one other thing: I killed Maul once. Best to capture him. He doesn’t seem to stay dead.”

“Thanks for the support,” Ahsoka stated. “As always.”

“That’s what friends are for,” Skywalker told her. He then held out a box. “If you’re going to face Maul, you’ll need these.” Even before the Togruta opened the box, Mara knew that they were her lightsabers. The former Padawan hesitated before moving the lid. The sabers looked good as new. “I took care of them. Made sure they looked good as new.” She ignited them and twirled them around a little, trying to get a feel for them. “Capture Maul. With any luck, this’ll all be over soon.”

Ahsoka turned her sabers off, saying, “Master Kenobi said there’s no such thing as luck.”

“Yeah, well,” Mara stated. “We think it exists.” She nodded to the Jedi, who nodded back and left the room.

“Anakin!” Tano called after him. He stopped at the doorway and turned to her. “Good luck.” He smiled at her before walking away.

“Alright, Ahsoka, shall we?” Mara asked her, offering for her to take her arm.

“Yes,” the Togruta responded, taking it. Together, the boarded the transport ship.

—————

“Commander, I have Prime Minister Almec on the line,” said one of the clones over the comlink. The new Commander, both consultants and the leader of the Night Owls all stood on one corner of the transport.

“Patch him through,” ordered Rex

The hologram of the Prime Minister appeared on the holo-device. Bo-Katan and Ahsoka has to turn to face him.“What is the meaning of this invasion?” He sounded almost furious. “The Republic presence here is a direct violation of our treaty.”

“Your time has come, Almec,” Bo-Katan told him in a low threatening voice. “We know you’re Maul’s puppet, and we are coming for him.”

“Ah-ha!” He seemed to recognize her. “Mistress Bo-Katan, the traitor. He crossed his arms. “I should have known you were behind this incursion. Siding with the Republic will make you an enemy in the eyes of the people.”

“I’m fine with that,” the redhead deadpanned before ending the call.

“You’re nothing like your sister,” Ahsoka remarked.

Kryze ignored the comment and contacted one of her people. “Ursa, can you confirm the target’s location?”

“I can only confirm that Maul has not left the city,” Ursa responded. “All other attempts to locate him have been blocked. Saxon is already scrambling his defenses.” The ship shook and the call ended.

“We’ve got incoming,” said the pilot. The passengers held on as he evaded missiles.

The door opened and the Mandos leapt out. Their Jetpacks instantly activated. The clones, now outfitted with those same tools, soon joined in. Before Rex did however, he apologized. “Sorry, Ahsoka. I didn’t think to bring your Jetpack. Mara never needs it.”

“I don’t either,” the Togruta decided. “Race you to the surface.” With that, she jumped out of the transport, sabers ignited.

Both Rex and Mara shared a laugh. The young woman then cocked her gun and said, “See ya!” She fell out of the boat before stretching out her wings to catch herself. Her aim didn’t miss a single Death Watch member.

Ahsoka made it first to the land pad. Mara was second. Together they picked off the Death Watch members on the docks. “Beat you,” Ahsoka stated, to which Mara rolled her eyes. Soon, the Night Owls arrived on the dock, driving the remaining Death Watch into the city. Next, Rex appeared beside the young women who simultaneously said, “Beat you.”

He laughed. “Some things never change.” They gathered with Bo-Katan on a balcony. “No sign of Maul yet,” Rex told them.

“We can’t sustain a long siege,” Bo-Katan stated. “I’ll head for the throne room and deal with Almec. You _must_ find Maul.” With that, she was off.

“I want you to support Ursa at the dock, Rex,” Ahsoka ordered. “We must ensure Maul doesn’t escape.”

“If he’s here,” Rex offered. “If he’s not, then all of this,” he gestured to the chaos. “plays right into their hands.”

“Commander Rex,” said a voice on the comlink. “This is CT-0292. I think we have something.”

“On my way, Captain,” Ahsoka said on the comlink before running off.

“I’m going to help the Nite Owls here,” decided Mara before beginning to fly. “Get to the docks. If I spot Maul I’ll let you know.” They went their separate ways.

—————

Mara has found herself near the school fighting off Death Watch. Some she could take down with her blaster, others she had to engage in hand to hand combat. She won every exchange.

“Mara, have you spotted Maul? We lost him in the tunnels.” That was Ahsoka’s voice on the comlink.

“No. I haven’t. He must know this city pretty damn well,” the winged human answered.

“Get to the throne room, we need to come up with a new plan.”

“On my way.”

She hastily flew to the palace. When she got there, they were already discussing strategy. “There are a small number of firefights still happening in sector 11.” That was Bo-Katan’s voice. She was standing around a hologram of the city with Rex, Ahsoka, and a hologram of Obi-wan. A droid was showing the hologram of the city. Mara stood next to it and Ahsoka. “But for the most part, your clones have been as effective as promised. Still, without Maul in custody, this could fall apart quickly. We must capture him before he escapes.”

“He mentioned a name,” Ahsoka brought up. “Darth Sidious.”

Bo-Katan looked to Kenobi. “Who is Sidious?” She questioned.

“I do not know much,” the Jedi master stated. “But I will share with you what the Council suspects.” Rex dismissed the droid and the hologram of the city disappeared. Kenobi placed a hand on his chin in thought before stating, “Darth Sidious is the Sith Lord who orchestrated the Clone Wars and played both sides of it from the beginning. I first learned of the name from Count Dooku, though any chance of learning more about Sidious from Dooku has been lost.”

Mara gave him a blank stare with crossed arms while saying, “Let me guess. He was killed. Who was it?”

“Anakin. He killed the count while rescuing the Chancellor,” Kenobi admitted. “We’ve lost a vital link to understanding the mystery of Darth Sidious.” The Jedi turned to Bo-Katan. “If you can capture Maul, he may be able to provide missing pieces to the puzzle.”

“Then send us more men,” Ahsoka told him.

“Unfortunately, I cannot. I’m being sent to hunt down General Grievous on Utapau.”

“What about Anakin? Maybe he can reinforce us.” The Togruta wanted to hold onto hope. Somehow, Mara knew that that wasn’t going to happen.

The Jedi looked around, requesting, “May I speak with Ahsoka alone for a moment?” The winged human glanced at the Togruta before stepping back.

A few minutes later, an attack was reported. They got ambushed on their way to reinforce the entry port on the C-deck. One of the clones reported another clone being taken alive by Maul. Mara thought that it most likely had to with information. She noted this fact out loud to Ahsoka, but the Togruta and Bo-Katan decided on speaking to the Prime Minister. Mara did not go with them. Instead, she chose to help oversee the movement of citizens to shelters. A lot of the citizens didn’t like the Republic being there. When she saw Bo-Katan, Ahsoka, and Rex look in her direction on a balcony, she flew up and followed them inside. She did not tuck her wings back in.

“This occupation cannot last much longer,” the Nite Owl leader told Ahsoka. The four of them walked through the hall. Towards the throne room. “The people will not stand for it. I will not stand for it.”

“You asked for our help,” Rex pointed out. “My men don’t want to be acting as a police force. Quite frankly, Mara doesn’t either.”

“If we have the Nite Owls acting as police then it could be better for the people,” Mara suggested. The four of them stopped walking.

Ahsoka spoke, “The Republic forces will depart once we capture Maul.” They resumed their course. “Then you will have your opportunity to lead.” 

“Wait!” Mara called out. “Something’s off, ready your weapons.” They did. Mara was the first to enter, taking cautious steps. Darth Maul sat on the throne.

“You’re quite perceptive,” Maul stated. The captured trooper, Jesse, sat beside him in handcuffs.

Bo-Katan rushed towards him, firing her pistols. The sith deflected each blast as she ran up to him. He then held her in the air, asking, “My lady, is that any way to treat your rightful ruler?” He swelled at her before dropping her to the floor. Rex and Ahsoka rushed to her. “And now, as a show of good faith, I return your comrade in arms to you.” He unlocked the cuffs. Jesse almost looked too afraid to move. “Go on, back to your brothers.” The clone walked in pain. He had an awful bad limp. 

Mara rushed to his aid, putting one of his arms around her shoulders. “What happened?” She asked him in a kind and gentle voice. They stopped at Rex and the others. 

“I’m sorry, Commander,” Jesse told them. His voice upset and weak. “I couldn’t help it. He got inside my head. I told him everything.”

“It’s okay,” Tano reassured him. “Mara, get him out of here.” The winged human nodded and took him to the hallway.

“I’ve never seen a being like you,” Maul stated. Mara didn’t stop. “No matter, I shall find out sooner or later.”

“Let’s get you over to Kix,” Mara muttered to Jesse. “It’s alright now.” Explosions could be heard outside.

As Mara and Jesse walked through the halls, they were passed by Bo-Katan and Rex. The young woman decided not to pay them any mind. Once she had Jesse taken care of, however, she did pay mind, flying outside from a broken window that shattered from an explosion.

She went head on to the Death Watch, releasing her sonic cry which surprisingly disrupted some of their jetpacks. Once she landed on the ground, she turned one of her blasters into a spear by way of matter manipulation. With both tools, she managed to take out a lot of them.

Out of the sky dropped Ahsoka’s lightsabers and she knew something had to be up.

When Death Watch realized that their numbers were dwindling far too quickly, some laid down their arms, others chose to die fighting. The clones to the ones who surrendered prisoners on the transport ships that were arriving. Mara soon noticed the bright light shining on the beams. Ahsoka was holding Maul via force. He shouted some angry words as members of the Night Owls restrained him and knocked him out with a stun blast.

“Hey,” the winged human greeted. “You dropped these.” As she landed on the beam, she handed the Togruta her sabers back. The two of them flew back down to the surface.

“You actually captured him,” noticed Bo-Katan. “I’m impressed.”

“It is what the council wanted,” Tano stated. Mara gave the Mandalorian a small smile as the two young women walked away.

Kryze decided to join them, saying, “Still, you have succeeded where many have failed.”

“I’ve learned from the best, including you,” the former padawan acknowledged as they walked.

Bo-Katan stopped. The other two halted a step in front of her. The redhead spoke. “I wish I was good at something other than war. She turned to look below the bridge. 

“Your people need a new kind of leader.” 

“My sister tried that. I never understood her idealism.”

“Commander,” Rex interrupted. He was accompanied by two other clones. “I have the council waiting for you.”

“And Master Skywalker? Were you able to contact him?” Ahsoka questioned.

“He was at the meeting when I left to get you,” the clone commander told her. “They also want you there, Mara.”

“Oh, okay.” This was highly irregular. She almost never gets called to the council. She isn’t even a Jedi.

The two young women went inside the barrack where the meeting was being held. Everyone else there was present via hologram. When they entered, the holograms of Windu, Secura, Ki-Adi Mundi, and Yoda greeted them. “I understand your mission was a success,” Windu said.

“Yes,” said Ahsoka. “We have Maul in custody.” She turned to look at the other Jedi members. “I will escort Commander Rex when he delivers him to Coruscant.”

“A great service to the Republic, you both have done,” Yoda stated.

“We did our duties as citizens,” Mara told him. “Well,” she looked at her friend. “I did, at least.”

“Not you as a Jedi?” Yoda inquired about Ahsoka.

“No,” the Togruta said. “Not yet… Actually,” she crossed her arms. “I was hoping to speak with Master Skywalker.”

“I sent him to inform the Chancellor that General Grievous has indeed been located on Utapau,” Windu informed.

“Are we sure that was the best idea, Master Windu?” Mara questioned him, making everyone else turn to her. “Over the past few months…” she looked cautiously at Ahsoka. 

“Speak your mind, child,” Yoda told her.

“I observed that Anakin was… acting with dark side tendencies.” Mara chose to study the floor. “He killed Admiral Trench. I saw it in the look in his eyes when he regrouped with Clone Force 99 and myself. He seemed to always be willing to go one step further… and now that he’s killed Count Dooku… I don’t know… I just can’t shake this feeling that maybe Darth Sidious has gotten to him, somehow. That is the only reason I could see him having for doing those things.”

“What?!” Ahsoka angrily turned to the other young woman.

“Hmm. Investigate this, I will,” Yoda decided.

Ahsoka sighed, choosing to let it go. “What about Master Kenobi?”

“Engaged the enemy, he has,” Yoda told her. 

“Then the war could be over soon.”

“That depends on the Chancellor,” Mace stated, shifting his position slightly.

“What do you mean?” The Togruta pressed. Mara knew better to keep silent.

“I’m sorry, citizens. These matters are for the council to discuss,” Windu dismissed them.

Mara could tell that Ahsoka wanted to talk back, but instead she pulled away. “I understand.” The masters logged off one by one until it was only Yoda, Mara, and Ahsoka.

“Ahsoka, more to say, have you?” Yoda questioned her. “A message for Skywalker, perhaps?”

Again Ahsoka hesitated. “Uh, no, master. I’ll tell him when I see him.”

 _“If you see him,”_ Mara thought. 

“May the force be with you, Padawan. Mara.” The grandmaster logged off.

Rex walked up to the two of them. He faced Ahsoka. “You didn’t tell him what Maul said about General Skywalker,” he brought up.

“Mara did, actually,” Ahsoka stated.

“And what exactly did he say?” Mara questioned them, knowing that she won’t like what she would hear.

“Maul pretty much confirmed your suspicions about Sidious,” Tano stated.

“You mean that… that he thinks Dark Sidious has been pulling his strings?”

“Since he came into the order.”

“I see.” So, the Togruta was faking surprise? I guess she had to give a reaction to that otherwise it might have seemed suspicious. Without another word, the three of them joined the battalion. They were all lined up close to the ship, as were the Nite Owls. A large gap was created between the two groups as the leader of the Nite Owls and her most trusted members escorted Maul in his cage. Mara, Ahsoka, and Bo-Katan stood off to the side while Rex joined the Nite Owls in taking the prisoner aboard.

Maul’s container was a giant metal box that had metal restraints most likely all along his body. The window by his head showed a muzzle.

“Impressive,” Ahsoka remarked. “I suspect even Maul can’t get out of that.”

“A relic of a bygone era when Mandalorians had reason to imprison you Force-wielding maniacs,” the redhead explained in almost a monotone voice. There was truth present, but they played it off in kidding.

“I thought your sister outlawed such devices,” Tano stated.

“She did. This is the last one.”

With the prisoner fully loaded onto the shuttle, Ahsoka and Mara turned to face Bo-Katan. They shook hands. “Goodbye, Ahsoka, and Mara.”

The ship flew all the way to the cruiser and Maul was taken to the Brigg.

The trio of the young women and the clone commander went to the Bridge and the cruiser jumped to hyperspace.


	24. Order 66

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we have it folks, the last two-ish episodes of the Clone Wars. May or may not continue this into Rebels. I’m not sure yet.

They stood there in a strange silence as the light outside the ship flashed in blue and white. The clone could tell something was on the former Jedi’s mind.

“As a Jedi, we were trained to keep the peace,” Ahsoka thought out loud. “Not be soldiers. But all I’ve been since I was a Padawan was a soldier.”

“Well, I’ve known no other way,” Rex admitted. “Gives us clones all… a mixed feeling about the war. Many people wish it never happened. But without it, we wouldn’t exist.” He looked at Mara who kept her gaze at the stars. “You wouldn’t exist either, would you?”

“I  _ am _ a soldier,” Mara said. “But this soldier has also known peace.” She chuckled. “Sometimes I think that I’ll have grown so accustomed to that way of living, of killing, that I might become a bounty hunter, or an assassin. Sometimes I think I was told that I had a mother just to give me peace of mind. If  _ that _ were true, then I would exist in a different way. Back on my home planet… going to college right about now.” She chuckled a bit. “But what do I know? I’m not force sensitive.”

“Well, either way,” Ahsoka told them. “The Republic couldn’t have asked for better soldiers, nor I better friends.”

The moment was interrupted by another clone. He said, “Commander Rex, the latest briefing has come in.”

The commander turned to the clone before looking back at the young women. “Want to have a look? It might have an update on General Kenobi’s efforts”

“You go,” Ahsoka decided. “I’m sure it’s just good news.”

Mara smiled sadly at her friend before returning her attention to the stars. “Go, Rex. I’ll sit this one out as well.” Before Mara could say any more, Ahsoka stumbled slightly. “Ahsoka, are you okay?” 

“It’s Anakin. You were right.”

“What?”

“He just murdered all the younglings.”

The Togruta ran towards Rex’s direction. That’s when Mara heard it, over the intercom of the other clones. “Execute order 66.” She had no idea what that meant, but suddenly all the clone troopers had aimed their guns at Tano.

“Find him! Find him! Fives!” Rex struggled. Before Mara could get to her friends, the door was shut.

“What is the meaning of this?” Mara demanded.

“Order 66, sir,” one of them told her. “The order to murder all the Jedi.”

“Well I won’t stand for it,” Mara decided. She drop-kicked him and released her sonic cry at the others. Not enough to kill them, but just enough to knock them out. The bridge worker clones chose to aim their blasters at her. She knocked them all out before they could fire.

The winged teen didn’t have to open the doors to hear what was spoken. It was most definitely Rex falling to the other troopers. “All right. We know Ahsoka Tano’s on board. She’s been marked for termination by Order 66. Under this directive, any and all Jedi leadership must be executed for treason against the Republic. Any soldier that does not comply with the order will also be executed for treason. Understood?”

“Yes sir!” They chorused.

“There are only so many places to hide on this ship. Gather search parties. We’ll fan out and move section by section. Come on, let’s get moving.” The sound of armor moving in rhythm told Mara that they went to search.

Knowing that she couldn’t just sit around, and knowing that she had to pass through that room to get to any other part of the ship, she dared enter. Only Rex was standing there. His helmet was on.

“Does the order include me?” Her voice was barely above a whisper. He turned around.

“No, Miss Gyr. You were just being misled by the Jedi. It’s not your fault, it’s theirs,” he stated. Something in the way he said it made her think that he was instantly reprogrammed.

The winged human tilted her head in confusion. “Why? Why have they misled me?”

“They are traitors to the Republic. You are just a victim.”

“I see.”

“We should get you to safety, Miss. Allow me to escort you to your quarters.”

“That will not be necessary,” Mara told him, making her way towards the door. “Thank you Commander.” Before she left the room she stopped and said, “Remember Fives.” Quickly, she took her leave.

What could Fives possibly have to do with this? Could it be the plot Anakin said he uncovered… was this one? As she walked down the halls, she recalled exactly what Anakin told her from her mind palace.

_ “Something in your mind, Skywalker?” She asked him. _

_ He stopped in his tracks and walked towards Mara. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Have you heard anything about Fives?” _

_ “No… should I have?” _

_ “Well, he said the strangest thing. He said that the Chancellor was behind some secret plot. It had something to do with the inhibitor chips.” _

_ Mara shifted her weight in the chair. “Interesting. And where is he now?” _

_ “He’s dead. In fact, he was on the run because of this conspiracy. Honestly, I don’t know if I believe him.” _

_ “Huh, well, I don’t know what to tell ya. Has the Chancellor given any indication as to whether or not it’s true?” Stupid question, she knew that. The person in power will almost always claim that they are not in the wrong. Almost always, it’s the way in which they say it that decides their fate. Mara wondered why the Jedi was asking about him in the first place.  _

_ “Not that I can tell.” _

_ Inwardly she frowned. “Alright, well, I’ll see you around.” They smiled at each other and parted ways. _

The inhibitor chips. Of course! This is what was causing the clones to do this! If only Mara had the technopath ability. That would be a godsend in this universe. But alas, she does not, and that skill will most likely never come to her. She has to find Ahsoka.

Mara ran in the direction of the medical bay and found that clones were trying to force their way in. The door was already halfway opened. Using telekinesis, she brushed them to the side and quickly ran through the opening. Just as she turned around with blasters ready, the door was resealed.

“That was close,” Mara remarked, before turning to Ahsoka. Droids chirped at each other. “So, I’m guessing you're trying to remove his inhibitor chip?”

“How did you know?” The Togruta questioned.

“Anakin mentioned to me once about what happened to Fives. He mentioned inhibitor chips. Given what those nasty little things could do, I put two and two together.” The winged human turned to Rex, who was just placed in the machine.

He seemed to be waking up. His hands rested on the holsters of his blasters. “Rex,” Mara’s voice was gentle. “It’s okay. Yeah?”

“Yeah, yeah,” said the clone as he slowly sat up. 

“Are you good to be around her?” Mara questioned.

“Yes. Sorry for earlier,” Rex stated, looking at Tano. “I almost killed you.”

Ahsoka gave him a small smile. “How wide speed is this?” The Togruta questioned him.

“It’s all of us,” he answered. “The entire grand army of the Republic has been ordered to hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights.”

“Including Clone Force 99?” Mara asked him.

“Yes, including them.”

The winged young woman turned her attention back to the door. “Guys, they’re almost through.”

“How are we gonna get out of this?” The clone questioned.

“Set your blasters to stun,” Ahsoka ordered. “We don’t want to hurt them.”

“Tell that to them,” Gyr and Rex quipped simultaneously as they reset their guns.

When the door was unsealed all the way, Ahsoka force-pushed the door, which took a few clones with it. Mara and Rex stunned all the clones that came their way. The trio fought their way through the halls before stopping at a conduit. “R7, see if you can find us a way out.” Ahsoka ordered. The droid closed off one of the halls. Two clones had found their way to them on the other side. Mara and Rex stunned them.

“Okay,” said Mara. “What now?”

The droids beeped as they spoke.

“The escape pods have been destroyed,” Ahsoka told them. “Taking a shuttle is our best bet.”

Rex was about to follow the young women when he almost tripped on a stunned clone. “The boys are having a rough time with it,” said he. “Did you hear Maul also escaped?”

“He didn’t escape, I let him out,” the Togruta informed. She walked ahead of her friends.

“What?! Why?!” Both Mara and Rex shouted.

“Diversion, come on!” The former Padawan broke into a sprint. The three droids followed her immediately.

“That’s one word for it,” Tex muttered before running after her. Mara followed suit.

Soon, an alarm started blaring. The winged human groaned. “What now?” She received no answer.

When they reached the hanger, the doors were sealed. The control room was occupied by a few clones. Rex stunned them. As the three of them worked the controls, Rex noted, “The hanger bay doors are sealed. They’ve got everything locked down. If they weren’t trying to kill us, I’d be proud.”

Ahsoka turned to the astromechs. “R7, see if you can open bay door twelve. Cheep, prep the shuttle. G-G, find out what happened to the ship.” Both droids chirped and were on their way.

G-G beeped just a few seconds later. “The hyperdrive’s been taken offline?” Mara questioned it. “How offline are we talking here?” It chirped. 

“It was destroyed?” Rex asked it. The droid beeped. Suddenly, the Nav came online. He took a look at it. “We’re too close to the moon. It’s gravity is pulling us in.”

“R7,open the main hangar doors,” Ahsoka commanded. They opened, revealing the moon, looking really close. “We need to get out here.”

Then the bay doors opened. A shuttle revealed. “There’s our ticket out,” Mara stated. The other bay doors opened as well, revealing the other clones. “And they were waiting for us.” The clone troopers all took formation in the hangar facing the control room. Jesse seemed to now be leading them.

“So what do we do?” Rex asked, turning to the young women. “Fight our way to the shuttle?”

“I want to say yes,” Mara spoke. “But there’s too many. If it is the only way, however...”

“I don’t want to hurt them,” Ahsoka stated

Mara could tell that the clone was trying to hide his emotions when he said, “I hate to tell you this,but they don’t care. This ship is going down, and those soldiers,” he gestured to the hanger before gesturing to himself. “my brothers, are willing to die and take you, and me, and her along with them.” He looked directly at Ahsoka, pointing to Mara. He was clearly upset.

With caution, Ahsoka stepped towards him and took off his helmet. He was crying. Rex turned his face away from her in an attempt for her not to see. The Togruta placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “You’re a good soldier, Rex,” she told him. “So is everyone of those men down there. They may be willing to die, but I am not the one who is going to kill them.” Her arm then let go and hung at her side.

“So we’re just going to surrender?” He asked in a dejected tone. “Admit defeat? Is that it?”

“No.”

“Guys. I might have an idea,” Mara informed them. She’s been staring out the window the entire time. The winged human then knelt down to the astromechs. “I can count on you three, right?” They gave affirmative beeps and chirps. “Good.” The younglings woman rose and started fast-walking out the door. “I’ll explain on the way, we don’t exactly have enough time.” The others followed her.

Once they made it down a level, Mara stopped. “Okay, so. I need for you,” she pointed at Rex. “To pretend like we are your prisoners, but I’m going to need the astromechs to sneak past the clones and get to a conduit. From there, they can release the floor, making the clones fall.”

Not seeing any other option, the three of them walked into the hangar. “Hold your fire!” Rex called. He had a gun to both Mara’s and Ahsoka's backs. Both young women had their hands behind their heads. They went towards the large group of clones. They all readied their blasters. “I said hold your fire, Jesse. I have the situation under control.”

“You have your orders, sir,” Jesse told him. “Now Execute them, or  _ I  _ will!”

The three of them stopped. Rex spoke again. “The order was to execute the Jedi for treason against the Republic. The problem is, Ahsoka Tano is no longer a Jedi. Hasn’t been for some time. And Mara Gyr wasn’t one to begin with.”

“Sir. You said yourself we’re under special order from Darth Sidious to eliminate Ahsoka Tano and any other clone who disobeys Order 66. Now that Mara has tried to help the Jedi, she must be eliminated too.”

Mara looked at the droids who were now over by a conduit. One of them shook their head. “Keep him talking for a little bit longer,” Mara whispered, careful to keep her head down.

“Jesse, listen to me. We’ve known each other a long time. If we don’t get this right, we will be the ones committing treason, not them.”

Jesse began to lower his weapons before repositioning them. He said, “Commander Rex, you are in violation of Order 66. I accuse you of treason against the Grand Army of the Republic. You’ll be demoted in rank from Commander and subject to execution. Along with the traitors Ahsoka Tano and Mara Gyr.

Mara stole another look at the droids. The astromech gave its version of a thumbs up. “Ready?” She whispered to Rex and Ahsoka.

“Yeah, I didn’t much like being a commander anyway,” Rex muttered before parts of the floor dropped.

“Now, guys!” Mara shouted before stunning a few of the clones. Rex gave Ahsoka her sabers back and shot at some of the other clones. The former Jedi used the force to push them into the holes.

Gyr then flew to the shuttle, seeing the Dathomirian run towards it. Using telekinesis, she flung him backwards, sending him away from the ship. “You little-!” He didn’t get to finish his insult as he was bombarded with a sonic wave. He covered his ears for a moment, but then he force pushed her away.

Ahsoka tried to attack him, but he almost sent her into the hole. A droid pulled her up using a wire while the other two life forms defended it. As Maul was escaping the hangar, both Mara and Ahsoka we’re keeping it at bay. There were still too many clones. To combat that, Mara split her focus between trying to help Ahsoka and stunning the men. Still there were too many. “Ahsoka, we have to let go! There are just too many!” The winged human stopped and fully paid her attention to the clones. Moments later, the Togruta let go of the shuttle and made her sabers cut a circle around the three of them. 

Now that they were in the maintenance hangar, there were still more clones. A part of the floor moved up, but half of them still remained. The three of them ran towards the ships, still firing at the clones.

“Nothing, nothing!” Rex yelled. “They’re all under maintenance!”

“Not that one!” Mara pointed out. “We've probably entered the moon’s atmosphere anyway!” They shared a quick glance before sprinting over to the Y-wing. 

“Get me over there,” Rex said as Ahsoka covered both of them. Mara flew him onto the ship before moving to stun a few of the clones. Just then, the cruiser started to tilt, making the man and Ahsoka start to fall. Mara went after the Togruta to find her falling in the sky. She brought her back into the Y-wing which was also in the atmosphere. Taking one last look at the giant ship, she saw that the cruiser had broken apart. Mara climbed in with Ahsoka.

When they landed, they immediately went to work on burying the dead. Once that was over, they placed sticks on all of their graves to place their helmets on top of. Then, Mara tried to contact Kenobi while Rex checked something with the Y-wing and Ahsoka just stared at the dead.

Contacting Kenobi proved to be no use. He was simply unreachable. Mara then walked over to the Togruta. “It’s going to rain soon. I can smell it,” she told her. “We should get going before the storm hits.” Mara chose not to pay mind to the lightsaber dropping from her hands. The other one must have been lost in the wreckage. Together, they walked back to the boat where Rex was waiting. 


	25. Announcement

Hey guys! Thanks for all the reads and kudos and bookmarks! I've decided to split this into two works. The Clone Wars, which will keep being on this fic, and the Rebellion, which I am currently making into a new fic. The last few chapters (Fifteen Year Time Jump --> on) will be moved there. Thank you for all your support. Love you guys.


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